De Montfort University textile graduates add zest to Orange Tree festival marquees

East Midlands pub group The Orange Tree has teamed up with two textile design graduates to create beer tents with a unique look and feel at two of Leicestershire’s most popular music festivals.

The group approached De Montfort University (DMU) textile design graduates Carly Barton, 23, and Nicola Roffe, 22, and asked them to design textile installations and soft furnishings to transform the festival beer tents at Summer Sundae and Strawberry Fields.

Their creations, using lace, silks, vintage fabrics and beads, turned the Orange Tree’s bars at the Summer Sundae festival in Leicester earlier this month into a vintage circus-inspired main bar and a ‘utility chic’ real ale and cocktail bar.

Now their designs are being used for a second time at the festival beer tents at the three-day Strawberry Fields festival, at Cattows Farm, Heather near Coalville, which starts on August 26th.

Suzi Corker from the Orange Tree Group said: “We were inspired by the work we saw at DMU’s end of term degree show and asked if any of the students would be interested in working with us.

“What we wanted was a look that was unique and quirky and that captured the personality of our bars.

“Nicola and Carly have risen to the challenge and have come up with a range of ideas that will turn plain old tents into fun and stylish festival bars.

“We’ve been delighted with their creative approach to problem-solving and the way they’ve interpreted our brief for a funky yet vintage look.”

The graduates worked with donations from Low Woods Furnishings, Belton, near Loughborough.

“We would like to thank Low Woods Furnishings for the generous donation of fabrics for Nicola and Carly to work with,” added Suzi.

Leicester-born Nicola said: “It was a mammoth task, but it was such a great commission to get so soon after graduating that we didn’t want to let the Orange Tree down.

“We’ve been working round the clock to make more than 200 metres of bunting, but it’s all been worth it because the tents are going to look fabulous!”

Carly, from Market Harborough, has been busy scouring Leicester charity shops for the silk scarves and vintage fabrics needed for their decorations.

“Local charity shops have been great for the vintage items we needed – and we’ve also had fabrics donated to us by local businesses,” she said. “But what we’re most proud of is the fact that everything we’re using has been sourced from small independent retailers in Leicester.”

The independent Orange Tree Group has six bars across the East Midlands, with four venues in Leicester – the newest addition being The Basement in Wellington Street. The bars have a reputation for their laid-back feel and quirky retro styling.

www.orangetree.co.uk

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Crack down on counterfeit whisky gets support from the Food and Drink iNet

An exciting research project to crack down on counterfeit whisky and wine is being supported by The Food and Drink iNet.

Experts at The University of Leicester’s Space Research Centre are working with colleagues at De Montfort University to create a handheld device which will detect fake whisky and wine – through the bottle.

The technology has already been developed by the University of Leicester team to spot counterfeit medicines by scrutinising the packaging. Now the experts are working to transfer the technology to analyse liquids in bottles.

As well as helping to stamp out the big problem of counterfeit whisky and fine wine, this could also have major potential for airline security systems, they believe.

The project is one of five Collaborative Research and Development grants worth a total of more than £235,000 announced by the Food and Drink iNet, which co-ordinates innovation support for businesses, universities and individuals working in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands.

Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Food and Drink iNet is one of four regional iNets that has developed an effective network to link academic and private sector expertise and knowledge with local food and drink business innovation needs.

“This is a fascinating research project between the University of Leicester, De Montfort University, the Scotch Whisky Research Institute and Leicestershire brewery Everards, which brings together space technology and the food and drink sector and offers real commercial benefit,” said Food and Drink iNet Director Richard Worrall. “Being able to test a liquid such as whisky or wine for authenticity without opening the bottle would bring major benefits to the drinks industry, as well as having opportunities in other fields, such as airport and airline security.

“The Food and Drink iNet Collaborative Research and Development programme is designed to provide help for innovative research schemes that will benefit the food and drink sector in the future, and this is one of the more interesting and beneficial.”

The team has been awarded £50,000 towards the almost £71,000 cost of the research project.
T
he technique relies on detecting the differences between the characteristics of light reflected from printed packaging. Originally developed from a spectrometer designed and built by the Space Research Centre for astronomical research, the technique was adapted for use in the pharmaceutical world by the University of Leicester team in conjunction with university spin-out firm Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International Limited which is a specialist crime and security consultancy.

Now the technology is being adapted again by the University of Leicester team for use in detecting fake liquids, with experts at De Montfort University providing skills in product design and rapid proto-typing so that a handheld device can be created.

“The support from the Food and Drink iNet will allow us to take the technology and apply it in the case of whisky and fine wines,” said Tim Maskell, Knowledge Transfer Manager in the Space Research Centre at the University of Leicester. “The iNet funding will enable us to design, build and test a laboratory prototype that will allow us to prove the technology works. If we can then take the technology and do something similar with other liquids there are potential airport security opportunities too.”

The team is working with The Scotch Whisky Research Institute and Leicestershire brewery Everards to help with the research and product trials.

The Food and Drink iNet aims to build on the tradition of innovation in the food and drink industry in the region by helping to create opportunities to develop knowledge and skills, and to help research, develop and implement new products, markets, services and processes. It is managed by a consortium, led by the Food and Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham. It is based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, with advisors covering the East Midlands region.

For more information visit www.eminnovation.org.uk/food


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