Major Melksham employer Avon Protection visited Melksham Oak School to speak to a packed audience of sixth form students this week.

Mike Lee, a design engineer at Avon discussed with the students how to approach careers within the UK Design, Development and Manufacturing industry reinforcing to them the importance of gaining industry experience early, strong CVs and interview techniques.

Mr Lee spent 13 months with Avon, a global market leader in respiratory protection system technology, as part of his university course.

In 2009 when he graduated, he returned to Avon initially on a short-term contract to continue work on a special project and having impressed his team considerably, he was offered a permanent job.

Speaking on his visit to the school, Mr Lee said: “Students were keen to explore how they can best prepare for working life and several keen enthusiasts showed interest in Avon’s critical role in designing products used for mMilitary applications.

"I hope we might see some of these students at Avon in the future”.