Northampton comedy night now afloat

Hema Patel, who is Northampton born and bred, learnt her trade with a combination of theory and practical experience on the Events Management course at the university, which gave her the grounding to forge a career in the industry.

Now she is putting theory into practice with a monthly comedy night at The Ark – Northampton’s first and only floating restaurant and entertainment venue.

Hema said: “One of the great things about the Events Management course is there’s a lot of practical work involved.

“We didn’t just learn the theory, we actually organised events every year of the course and having that practical knowledge certainly helps when you’re doing it in real life.”

After graduating five years ago, Hema went into the financial industry, but two years later she decided to follow her passion.

She said: “I wanted to go back to my events roots so I worked in hotels as an event manager, getting more experience until finally I was able to start working at my own business.”

The Ark is moored on the River Nene at Midsummer Meadow.