It can make or break a roast, complete a pie or add something extra to your chips.

However you like your gravy, Comptons Gravy Salt - produced in Carlisle - is one of the products many chefs turn to.

The traditional condiment creator has been around since the 1920s but wants to ensure the next generation of cooks is aware of its appeal.

In a bid to engage with Millennials, the company teamed up with Carlisle College students to come up with its advert.

The team worked with the college’s media department to give the students hands-on experience.

Debbie Sweeney, extended media studies course leader, said: “Comptons already had a competition at the college for the world’s gravy championship, and they got back in touch and asked if the students would be able to make some Christmas adverts to promote the product.

“Because the students love getting the experience and getting a real project that they can work on we of course said ‘yes’.”

Working to real-time deadlines and with only a month to complete the task, it could have seen some shy away from such an ambitious timescale but Debbie said: “It gives them direct experience of what film-making is like and it puts them under a lot more pressure.

“It also means their projects are seen in the wider community and it’s not just based in the college.”

After some mishaps the students managed to pull it together and create four separate adverts which were shown on social media and screened to the company, before a final decision was made on which advert to use.

Janette and Wilson Deyermond, owners and directors of Comptons Gravy Salt, said: “We were amazed to see the quality of the Comptons Christmas adverts created by the media student at Carlisle College.

“All four of the adverts were absolutely brilliant and with quite different perspectives, making it so difficult to choose a favourite.”

After a tough battle, the winner was announced as Through the Ages - and there were even suggestions that it could be made into a series of adverts for the company.

Grace Wedgwood, 18, part of the winning team, said: “It was a really enjoyable project. It was our first professional project that we had worked on, with an actual client.

“It was quite intimidating to start with but I think once we got going it was really enjoyable, we just got into the flow.”

Nick Turner, director at Intro PR who helped make the project happen, said: “We had done work with the college earlier on in the year, the world gravy championships, and we were amazed by the skills of the catering students.

“We were thinking about doing something with video and we just happened to speak to another business who said they had done something with the college.

“We explored ideas with the tutors and we have just been amazed by the talent they’ve got here, they’ve really showcased themselves well and it has worked for Comptons.”

He added: “To be able to use local students and give them a chance to show their creativity and use it for their [Comptons] business is a project they completely support.”

For the students, along with the hands-on experience, Comptons plans to reward the winning team with a prize which has yet to be announced.

The company says it was so impressed with the second place team they also have plans to talk to them about potential future work.