Craig Matson, managing director of leading kitchen retailer Roundhouse Design, has urged the industry to sponsor the newly-established Kitchen Education Trust (TKET).
Matson (pictured), who is chairman of the new trust, helped set up the foundation degree course in kitchen design at Bucks New University, which is now in its second year.
Speaking at a launch event at kbb Birmingham, co-hosted by kitchen designer Johnny Grey, Matson thanked the industry and trade press for its ongoing support and said that the trust would act as “a conduit between the industry and education”.
“The university couldn’t deal with marketing and PR, so we decided to launch a trust so we could channel funds from the industry through the trust and then pay the university,” he explained.
“The primary purpose of the trust is to be a vehicle by which monetary contributions are provided by the industry to support and promote education and provide scholarships. The trust enables us to channel funds appropriately and ultimately will give us the ability to approach other universities to participate in kitchen education.
“This is about the development of the industry, making it more professional and promoting the advance of education, making it inspirational for the students and useful for the industry when they come out of doing the course. It’s not about any individual’s aspirations.
“The launch is designed to raise awareness, but it’s also to raise sponsorship. We want to discuss how the industry can get involved. We want strong, robust supporters who really believe in what we’re doing.”