Kate Thorley
Senior Lecturer
Kate is an Alumni of BCU studying at the School of Jewellery, Birmingham; graduating in 1996 with a BA (Hons) in 3D Design specialising in Jewellery and Silversmithing. Kate entered the jewellery trade as a bench worker with Europe’s largest bullion and findings manufacturer; Cookson Precious Metals and within five years was Senior Designer creating successful commercial jewellery sold in national high street outlets. Kate won an International Jewellery Competition; World Gold Council’s Gold Virtuosi 2002 and had two sell out shows on QVC shopping channel.
Kate’s valuable manufacturing experiences help progress her career to become Senior Designer for the industry facing Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre facility at BCU.
Working for the Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre (JIIC), companies and designer makers to provide New Product Development solutions. She worked on 3 successful Knowledge Transfer Partnerships as the knowledge-based supervisor.
When the European NPD Project ended Kate established a business as a bespoke jewellery designer and design consultant, presenting her trade experiences to students BCU as a visiting tutor. After 7 years, the opportunity arose to join the Higher National Diploma as a part-time tutor whilst continuing her own practice. During 2016, the pathway for the new International Jewellery Business course was forged and Kate took responsibility for the Programme Leader role;
“The School of Jewellery continues to have a significant impact in feeding our industry with outstanding graduates specialising in design, traditional bench skills and innovative digital technology; so I am delighted to be leading the new business-facing BA (Hons) ‘International Jewellery Business’. This course has been designed specifically to cultivate marketeers, entrepreneurs, researchers and project managers for our innovative world-wide trade.”