Courses

A group of 17 students and 2 members of staff (Collette Coll & Caroline Daniel) took part in the 2008 RBM Study Tour to the Czech Republic. The students were from a cross-section of those on the programme with 4 first years, 4 second years, 6 third years and 3 fourth year students.

We left Craibstone on Sunday morning and travelled to Edinburgh for an afternoon flight to Prague. We arrived at Hotel Machova in Prague, where we stayed for the duration of our study tour and used a local bus company for visits to businesses outwith the city.

On Monday we used the excellent public transport system to visit the Czech University of Agriculture on the outskirts of Prague. We were given a fascinating presentation on the Czech economy by Vlastimil Cerny, Head of the International Office in the Faculty of Economics and Management, which set the scene for a better understanding of our subsequent visits to local businesses.

This was followed by a tour of the University campus. The afternoon visit was to the Staropramen brewery where we had a tour with an English-speaking guide and learnt that the Czechs have the highest beer consumption per head.

We were fortunate to have the services of an interpreter provided for us for 2 days by the Institute of Agricultural and Food Information. On Tuesday we travelled by bus to an 800 ha mixed farm with 400 dairy cows, 240 breeding sows and over 40 staff! One of the key features of the Czech economy is the low cost of labour. 

The afternoon visit was to the Skoda factory where they produce 2,700 cars per day, all pre-sold, and it was an excellent example of a modern, efficiently run factory.

On Wednesday we spent the day at the University Forest Establishment at Kostelec about an hour’s drive from Prague. The headquarters are in a beautiful old castle which has the capacity to accommodate and cater for some 100 students undertaking practical work experience.

The commercial enterprises of the University include a sawmill, tree nursery, garden centre and fish production. The sawmill sells or uses all its wood products so that there is no waste, for example, the bark is sold in the garden centre as a mulch. Annual sales from the sawmill are 102 million CZK (about £3.4 million) and from the tree nursery about £1 million. The fish, mainly carp, are bred in 10 cascade ponds with a surface area of 72ha. In addition there is a 12 ha arboretum.

Thursday saw the group enjoying a tour of the Hop Research Institute which for some of the students was the first time they had seen hops being grown, we also had time for a quick look at the micro-brewery, but no sampling of its production!

Our final visit was to the RB Farquahar factory in Chomutov, which was relocated from Aberdeenshire 4 years ago for the manufacture of bathroom pods, mainly for hotels, student accommodation etc. This move was primarily due to the low labour costs and the incentives offered by the Czech government for inward investment. This has been a very successful move for the business notwithstanding the costs of transporting the completed bathroom pods back to the UK. Their next venture is to build a factory in Dubai later this year.

Our final morning was free for sight-seeing in the beautiful city of Prague before flying back to Edinburgh and then on to Aberdeen.

Caroline Daniel