North East based Ami Blackburn has been presented with a CIM (The Chartered Institute of Marketing) Northern Studying Member, beating competition from North West and Yorkshire contenders.

Ami, who is European Brand Manager at Quorn Foods, achieved the highest marks in completing the CIM Diploma in Marketing in 2014 with Darlington College.

Speaking about the award, Ami said “"It was a complete shock to win the Northern Student of the Year category and I am not sure it has quite sunk in yet. My award now has pride of place in my office at Quorn Foods and I had a fantastic evening in a great venue at the Northern Awards Ceremony. I was lucky to have a very supportive and exciting company to use as case study material in my CIM assignments and it's great to know that the hard work paid off!"

Ami was presented with the award by Sarah-Lee Neesam from Elevation Recruitment, who sponsored the Awards ceremony held in Leeds on 24 June.

Pictured: Ami Blackburn and Sarah-Lee Neesam