A LEADING Borders businesswoman has been putting the next generation of marketing professionals through their paces in support of a national charity.

Emily McGowan, who founded Galashiels-based McGowan Marketing in 2017, was head judge for this year’s ‘Pitch Perfect’ competition ran by leading equalities charity Nil by Mouth.

‘Pitch Perfect’ runs in conjunction with City of Glasgow College and each year sees more than 100 marketing students compete to create a campaign which draws attention to Nil by Mouth’s work in schools, workplaces and communities across Scotland.

Groups are whittled down to six finalists and the winner is chosen by an independent panel drawn from the world of arts, marketing and charity campaigning.

The winning entry is then adopted by the charity and rolls out to target audiences in the following months.

In addition, all students receive credits toward their HNC/D qualifications.

As well as being invited to be one of the judges, Emily also delivered a guest lecture to students during the planning stages, providing them with advice and tips on how to successfully present a campaign to a client.

Dave Scott, Nil by Mouth director, said: “Working with Emily is an absolute joy and she provides such amazing insight and advice to the students taking part in the competition.

“When we read the feedback at the end of the final I’m always struck by how many of the participants list Emily’s input as their biggest take away from being involved and when she gave her guest lecture the students were genuinely queuing up to ask her questions afterwards.

“One of the best things of working with colleges is the more practical nature of the courses they offer, theory has its place but the students are encouraged to get real life skills and career experience which I hope they feel they get from being involved in the competition.”