At Abbey Gate College, we aim to enrich education through engaging and enjoyable experiences. Educational trips and visits are integral to our offering, ensuring students receive both informative and fun insights. Across various departments, we strive to make these excursions a key component of our commitment to providing a fully rounded education.

In November 2023, our A Level Business and Economics students visited London. This was a great opportunity to see first hand how business and economics works!

Imogen Reid, Year 13, wrote the following account of her experiences of the trip.

‘We began our trip with a fascinating tour around Fashion Enter – a non-profit, ethical garment manufacturer that produces clothes for big businesses such as ASOS and Simply B. Inside, we listened to a presentation about international business and managing a company that produces an average of 15,000 garments a week which has proved invaluable for our exams this summer! Our group enjoyed seeing their technology in particular and the use of AI when designing clothes in different colours and patterns for clients around the world.

Following this, we visited the London Metal Exchange where merchants have traded precious metals for more than 150 years. Watching the open-outcry trade of metals at the Ring was so exciting and yet another opportunity to add to our Business and Economics knowledge, when considering global trade and the cost of raw materials. Even more so, we loved seeing business take place at such high stakes for the first time and speaking to experts that explained the process to us afterwards.

Finally, we explored the Bank of England and learned more about its importance within the UK economy, Government Policy making and the history of our country. We particularly enjoyed competing to lift the 13kg £700,000 solid gold bar and whilst we didn’t win the prize money, I would argue that we came close! There was also an exhibition about the impact of the slave trade in England and the hope for future freedoms and economic liberty around the world.

Our group thoroughly enjoyed our trip, and it was an enjoyable way to develop our Business and Economics knowledge together in our final year. Racing to catch tube trains, having the longest Pizza Express order in London and exploring Covent Gardens helped to make the trip not only informative but a memorable experience too – and Mr Bailey, Mrs Kitchin and Mr Rowett couldn’t have been better guides for our last trip around London.’