Lucy James, nutritional and compliance coordinator at Cotswold RAW, began her journey toward a career working with animals at Hartpury University, studying to achieve a degree in bioveterinary science.
SoGlos meets up with Lucy to find out why she chose to study at Hartpury, how she bagged the job at the ever-growing Cotswold RAW and what's next in her career in animal nutrition.
What inspired you to study BSc (Hons) Bioveterinary Science at Hartpury — what made the university the right choice for you?
Initially, I wanted to study veterinary nursing, however following work experience in practice, I wasn’t entirely convinced it was the career path for me.
I knew I still wanted to work within the animal health industry, I just didn’t know where to begin. Upon attending a Hartpury open day, I was immediately drawn to BSc (Hons) Bioveterinary Science due to its broad range of modules.
I had been to a couple of open days at different universities prior, yet none of these felt right for me for one reason or another — Hartpury was different. I immediately felt it was the choice for me. I loved the rural campus and the fact it was a smaller, specialised university. The student ambassadors and lecturers were so helpful and friendly. In fact, I loved it so much I went back for three more open days before starting in September 2020.
What were some of the most valuable experiences — both academically and practically — that helped to lead you onto the career path you now find yourself on?
Unfortunately, as I started at Hartpury in 2020, my first year was massively hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic, as sessions were moved almost entirely online.
However, this didn’t stop me from making the most of the remaining years once restrictions were finally lifted. I was able to work in a range of roles on campus, ranging from the on-site canine physiotherapy unit to the farm’s calf-rearing unit; and also as a student ambassador.
Each provided me with varying skills, such as customer communication, time
management and biosecurity adherence, making my CV incredibly diverse. And although it was a lot of work, I feel that my
dissertation helped me immensely with my career path, enhancing my research,
critical thinking and writing skills. I am extremely grateful to have since had
it published in an academic journal.
Can you describe some of the highlights of your integrated placement year and how it contributed to your learning and career readiness — would you recommend this option to future students?
I completed my placement year in a veterinary regenerative medicine laboratory, where I worked independently and alongside cell biologists, culturing and creating autologous stem cell and platelet treatments for dogs and cats with orthopaedic injuries.
I’d say a highlight was attending the London Vet Show as an exhibitor, it was such an interesting day that I’m so pleased to have been a part of.
Although a completely different sector of the animal health industry as to where I am now, working full time in a small business was incredibly varied and hands on. The process of reaching out to companies and trying to secure a placement year was a laborious but rewarding task and greatly improved my confidence in reaching out to companies.
I would absolutely recommend doing a year in industry to students, it makes you
stand out to employers and provides that crucial work experience that they are
searching for.
You now work as a nutritional and compliance coordinator at Cotswold RAW. Can you tell us about your role and how your degree at Hartpury prepared you for it?
My role at Cotswold RAW is incredibly varied — no two days are the same.
I offer nutrition advice to customers and create health and nutrition content, from blogs to training materials. I also offer technical support, working alongside governing bodies such as APHA and Trading Standards to ensure compliance with their requirements.
The role also involves regulatory
body liaison, with UK Pet Food and the Raw Feeding Veterinary Society, sometimes
involving trips down to London or conferences across the country!
What skills and knowledge from your degree have been most useful in your current job — were there any particular modules or experiences that proved especially relevant?
In my time at Hartpury, I was able to develop my writing skills through varying types of written assignments, as well as through helpful achievement and success centre (ASC) workshops. Specifically, this enabled my ability to write detailed, scientifically backed nutritional guides, whilst also being able to simplify and condense the same information, making it easier to understand.
I also attribute this to my work as a student ambassador, where I managed social media groups alongside the marketing team and wrote blogs for the university. The modules I found most relevant were animal production, nutrition, and health and disease.
Animal production was by far the most practical module, due to the husbandry demonstrations and biosecurity exercises. The nutrition module was what ignited my desire to work in pet nutrition, which was further enhanced when I got my own cat, who had some nutritional struggles early in life.
Finally, animal health
disease was probably the most crucial. As a core module across the whole course,
learning in depth about immunity and diseases helped me develop varied
background knowledge, which is invaluable when giving nutritional advice. After
all, nutrition is such a broad subject and can be linked to many diseases and
conditions.
How did Hartpury support you in securing graduate opportunities; and what advice would you give to current students looking to enter the animal nutrition sector?
I struggled to find job listings or work experience in the pet nutrition sector, at least at first, but then I spoke to Hartpury's innovation, careers and enterprise (ICE) team and that’s when Cotswold RAW was suggested.
I reached out to them shortly afterwards and that’s where my continued work alongside them began. We met multiple times whilst I was in my final year and I always enjoyed visiting the premises. I worked alongside them creating blogs and offering input into a nutritional analyses project on their core range, they also kindly funded my place on a UK pet food nutrition course, which was incredibly insightful.
My advice to current students would be, as a
first step, to make sure your CV stands out — I attended multiple one-to-one meetings with the ICE team, who helped me really clean it up. The next
advice is to reach out to companies of interest, be proactive and get hands on.
This is the best way to get your name out there in the competitive job market.
What are your future career aspirations and how do you see your role at Cotswold RAW progressing?
In the future, I would like to further expand my qualifications, perhaps doing a course specifically tailored to canine nutrition. You really do learn something new every day and it’s a much broader topic than I ever anticipated.
I would like to do more work towards feline nutrition too, it's a subject which is seemingly less considered compared to dogs.
And then I
think educational content will further expand as part of my role. I'm so excited
to see what the future holds working at Cotswold RAW!
