Linda and Jacqualine enrolled onto a Higher National Diploma HND Interior Design at Reid Kerr College in Paisley and formed a great friendship that would later see them achieve great success and a promising future.

Linda said, “Jacqualine and I became good friends early on in the course and it became clear that we were very similar in our dedication to work and long term career prospects. However, our levels of ability in different subjects were varied and this later proved to be instrumental in the success of our business.”

Both students had their different reasons for returning to education at a later stage in life. Jaqualine said, “I had come as far as I could with the previous business I had run in Glasgow and was keen to expand my capabilities. I wanted to prove to myself that I could return to education and set myself new goals.”

Linda added, “After many years of having a rather stressful job, travelling a great deal and then becoming a mother, I felt that my priorities had to change and more emphasis needed to be placed on family life. Therefore I decided to re-train in an area which I enjoyed and appeared to have a flair for. On reflection I regretted not taking the opportunity to study after leaving school.”

Linda and Jacqualine were looking for a course at College that would give them the flexibility to study from home. Linda said, “It was great to find the course at Reid Kerr as this enabled us to come to college for a couple of days, leaving us time to study at home and still be there for our families.”

A complete course with wide-ranging subjects, the HND Interior Design can offer students the opportunity to gain a wealth of experience and hands on training within state-of-the-art facilities at Reid Kerr College’s Mile-End Campus. Dedicated to celebrating the arts, students studying at Mile-End can expect a modern environment with the best teaching and student facilities.

Jaqualine said, “I enjoyed the HND at Reid Kerr and specifically chose to study there because of the design projects included as part of the course. This gave me the opportunity and freedom to create interiors. It was very hard work, but very rewarding.”

Linda and Jacqualine studied for 2 years to achieve their HND and were delighted to graduate at the Paisley Abbey last year. Both their families attended the prestigious ceremony to see them receive their certificates of achievement for their academic success. Jaqualine and Linda’s partnership went from strength to strength at the end of their studies when they were asked to assist in a luxury property development and were both given a chance to showcase their talents.

Linda said, “It became apparent that developing a business together would be the right move as we both had strengths and weaknesses in areas that we could take advantage of. It is fair to say, that our design abilities and having an eye for colour are very similar.”

Linda and Jacqualine now run their own business, ‘Redefine’, from their Renfrewshire based premises. Jaqualine said, “We are both thrilled to have met at Reid Kerr and feel that the confidence and experience gained from the HND has helped us achieve so much since completing our course less than a year ago.”

Linda said, “It feels very satisfying to run our own business, it is hard work and you never really switch off, however our priority is our families and we work well together to achieve the balance of work and home.”

‘Redefine’ is an Interior Design Consultancy based in Renfrewshire. They currently specialise in the soft furnishings market, which is proving to be very successful. They aim to provide a friendly, affordable and personalised service to all of their customers whether on a residential or commercial basis. Both girls agree that longer term they hope to utilise the skills acquired from their training at Reid Kerr to move into property development and would like to develop their computer aided drawing skills on a more commercial basis.