Health, Wellbeing and Management

Kieran Paterson

Kieran studied HND Health and Fitness at Cardonald College in 2012 and went on to have a successful personal training company for many years.

In 2019 Kieran used his entrepreneurial spark to change his career path and launch Piatto 44 - an Italian Street Food Business in the Southside of Glasgow. In 2020 he launched Sotto, an Italian inspired deli to complement Piatto’s offering.

After many years of launching and managing his own businesses, Kieran decided to use his business expertise in a corporate environment and is now the Country Manager for tech company Young Ones.

Rebecca Swift

Rebecca successfully completed an HNC in Childhood Practice after a career change from working as a Healthcare Support Worker in the NHS.

‘I’ve found my niche in life. I’m not really academic so when I got an A on my graded unit, it was a stand-out moment for me. My placement reinforced this feeling as the job satisfaction from it was amazing. I absolutely loved it.’

Rebecca is now working for Glasgow City Council in Yorkerburn Nursery.

Chelsie MacFarlane

Chelsie started on the Level 4 Passport to Beauty course and continued her studies to successfully complete an HND in Beauty Therapy. Using skills and knowledge learned whilst studying at Glasgow Clyde College, Chelsie has successfully developed a range of beauty products and established her own business, ‘Calming Cosmetics’. In 2022, Chelsie received the Bridge2Business Enterprising Student of the Year Award.

‘I enjoyed the range of treatments and subjects covered in HND Beauty Therapy. When we covered Aromatherapy, I found my passion which lead me to start my own business – ‘Calming Cosmetics.’ My course helped to develop my skills and my confidence to set up my business and now I’m helping my clients live their best lives.’

Kirsty Patterson

Kirsty started her journey at Glasgow Clyde College on the SWAP Access to Health and Biological Sciences course. One of her lecturers told her about the HND Industrial Biotechnology and apprenticeship programme with Antibody Analytics which Kirsty thought was ideal to progress her career skills at the same time as her education.

‘The apprenticeship and HND have tied together nicely. After starting at Antibody Analytics, we studied animal and plant cell culture and immunology modules at college. My team is responsible for the routine culture of mammalian cells for use in immunology-based assays and so exposure through work really helped my understanding of the college modules and vice versa. Applying for this opportunity was one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I feel so incredibly lucky to have been chosen!’

Kirsty’s next step is to study Molecular Biology BSc at Dundee University starting in year 2. She plans to study cancer biology and immunology as her optional modules as these are areas close to her heart and relevant to her career at Antibody Analytics.

Marc Stewart

Marc started at Glasgow Clyde College on NQ Skills for Life and Work before progressing to Moving onto Work. Both these courses aimed to build his confidence and give a flavour of different career options which led to Marc quickly progressing through a range of computing courses before successfully completing an HNC in Computing. Marc is now undertaking a Modern Apprenticeship (MA) in Digital Applications Support with Glasgow City Council and is also an Apprenticeship Ambassador for QA LTD visiting various schools, colleges and job fairs to share his experience as an MA.

‘My school recommended that I applied for NQ Skills for Life and Work to build up my confidence so I took their advice and never looked back really! It gave me the skills and experience to go on with my studies until I completed an HNC in Computing. I’ve been doing web design for a number of years now and that’s where I see my future.’