Industry Visit to Unilever Research Monday 12th July 2010

Education Business Plus provides a flexible service for the professional development of educational staff.  As a result of this support a small group of Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy lecturers from Warrington Collegiate and West Cheshire College attended a morning industry visit to Unilever Research.  160 million times a day someone somewhere chooses a Unilever product.  Brands such as Sunsilk, Lux, and Dove are household names across the globe.

The lectures were able to observe how conditioners and shampoos are developed using their scientific components.  They were able to meet customers comparing different brands at Unilever’s in house salon and customer research facility as well as investigating how test rigs are used to plan the production of shampoos and conditioners on a factory scale.

Kerry Martinez, Assistant Manager of Hair and Beauty Therapy at West Cheshire College said about the visit, “ At Unilever it surprised me how closely all areas work together to produce the final product and just how much research takes place.  The practical application of science and technology in producing products for retail”.

The visit was a rare opportunity to see behind the scenes in such a truly international company and explore how products are developed for every day use around the world.

Sarah Barlow, Warrington 14-19 team commented, “it was a great insight into Hair and Beauty products at Unilever.  I can’t believe the number of different careers within Unilever, the motivation of staff and what a fantastic welcome we all had”.