£10m academy to train a new generation of retailers

Bhs and Arcadia
group owner Philip Green has announced details of a £10m
retail academy, which aims to develop the next generation of retail talent.

The London-based academy,
which will be jointly funded by Arcadia
and the Government, will offer places to 200 ‘motivated’ 16- to 18-year-olds
when it opens next year.

Green said that students at the
academy would get training in all aspect of the retail business, such as
marketing, design and finance.

Arcadia,
which includes high street chains such Topshop,
Miss Selfridge, Burtons
and Dorothy Perkins, has a track record of successfully supporting young
talent, with more than 60 per cent of its staff aged under 25. This month it recruited 55 graduates and 39
school leavers to its retail management trainee scheme.

Green’s plans were backed by
education eecretary Charles
Clarke, who said the specialist schools initiative and the plans for a national
retail academy were ‘historic’.

By Mike Berry

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ