“What Bucks has over other courses and universities is its outstanding links to industry”.

That's the view of successful BA (Hons) Creative Advertising graduates Gina Ramsden and Freya Harrison as they returned to speak at Welcome Week, a programme of activity for new and returning students.

“There are so many Bucks graduates who can offer help and opportunities. It’s a fantastic benefit for Bucks and helps the University to stand out.”

Gina and Freya, both 26, are Creatives for agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) and their return to Bucks came after they had spent four months delivering pitches for ads and as they are about to embark on work for financial services company Western Union.

The successful pair have masterminded adverts for Audi and Warburtons and said they had been ‘blown away’ by their success since graduating.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” said Gina. “The Warburtons idea was the first one we presented when we were hired at creative agency WCRS. We came up with the idea and wrote the script, and that earned us a lot of respect straight away.

“Peter Kay, a hero of ours, starred in the advert and was fantastic to work with. That provided a challenge in itself as we had to write a script matching his humour, but it was a pleasure and a great experience.

"The first time I knew how big it was when I heard people quoting some of the lines from the ad. It was amazing to have that impact.”

The pair also got their creative minds in gear with the idea for Audi’s ‘Synchronised Swim’ advert for BBH.

The ad features two Audi cars carrying out synchronised swimming in a pool against the backdrop of a new cover version of the Genesis track Follow You Follow Me, by Faultline featuring Rina Mushonga, to publicise Audi’s small car range.

Gina and Freya graduated in 2015, have been a creative team since meeting at Leeds College of Art, and then followed each other to Bucks for a BA (Hons) Creative Advertising degree.

“Returning to Bucks is quite surreal,” added Freya. “We both live in London now but when I studied here I lived near the station so even getting off the train to come here today brought back memories.

“In fact, the links to London are another huge thing which Bucks has in its favour. You can easily go on placements or internships in London and be based in High Wycombe.”

Gina and Freya said another huge part of studying at Bucks was the input of Course Leader Julie Wright.

Freya said: “Julie was amazing and has such a wealth of knowledge which we benefited from, plus her industry links are great. She really helped propel us in to the career we are now enjoying.”

Picture captions: Freya Harrison and Gina Ramsden and with Julie Wright, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Creative Advertising.