The Institute for Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT) at the University of Northampton officially shut its doors on July 31. This brings a close to the formal leather education in the United Kingdom.
The closure was announced back in December 2023. The university said it was left with no choice due to a sharp drop in student numbers. Financial challenges and a fall in international applications, especially after Brexit and the covid-19 pandemic, made the situation worse.
The ICLT had long been seen as a leading institution for leather science and innovation. It played a key role in training skilled professionals for the global leather industry.
