Retail’s age of the apprentice

As retailers we have a vested interest in what’s going on. We employ 11% of the UK workforce, a third of colleagues are under 25 and we spend £3.34bn each year on training.

Education and the skills of our recruits are a key factor in the success of our businesses. We also have a unique responsibility for the guardianship and progress of thousands of young people starting out in work.

There was a time when retail wasn’t seen as an attractive graduate career choice. Those days are gone. Retailers are among Britain’s most successful businesses and we offer good pay and prospects.

Our graduate trainee schemes recruit 8% of the UK’s university leavers and there is a healthy rivalry for the best of each year’s crop.

The latest figures show 20% of graduates are unemployed and competition is fierce for the vacancies on offer. At Halfords we received 1,700 applications for the six graduate roles at our head office this year. Similarly, Debenhams reported 2,000 applications for 25 graduate trainee places.

Since we acquired Nationwide Autocentres a year ago I’ve learnt much more about apprenticeships. We run the UK’s largest and most successful programme for trainee motor mechanics. I know other retailers such as New Look and B&Q lead in this area as well. Apprenticeships are another fantastic method to bring young people into the company, combining the needs of business and education.

We take 60 apprentices every year who train with us for three years. On graduation they are offered full-time roles. Apprentices can also enrol on the management trainee scheme and a dozen of our centre managers progressed via this route.

A number of our staff now in the graduate scheme first worked for us on an industrial placement. I’m very interested in this process as it offers undergraduates a paid year in industry where they gain work experience and insight into how their university training can be applied.

This is increasingly important, as a graduate’s chances of finding work double if they have work experience. Not surprising then that students value these opportunities and there is such demand. This year we had 700 applications for two industrial placements.

With the rising cost of tuition and student debt it seems we could be entering an era when business will become more closely involved in the education process.

The University and College Union and the National Union of Students have called for this to happen. The logical next step from industrial placement is sponsorship, a model the armed forces have used for years.

Tesco already sponsors a pre-degree foundation course in retail while Harrods has announced it will offer a two-year degree in sales with Anglia Ruskin University.

Tuition fees clearly have some negative effects, but it could be a timely opportunity for our industry to become more closely involved in the education process for colleagues before they join us full time.