The National Skills Academy: Training tomorrow’s top retailers

With 31 retail skill shops up and running, and more planned, The National Skills Academy for Retail has had a successful first year.

Led by Skillsmart Retail, The National Skills Academy has been tasked with offering a host of services to retailers and individuals interested in a career in retail through the network of skills shops.

The scale of what it has achieved, and the assurances it has been given about future government funding were highlighted at its first birthday party. Held in London at the end of June, this was attended both by high-profile retailers and the men and women on the ground responsible for training the retailers of the future.

National Skills Academy for Retail chief executive Jane Rexworthy, speaking at the party, said that another nine skill shops will open before the end of this year, taking the total to 40, with more already in planning for 2011. Just the day before, the first skills shop outside England had opened in Wales.

The organisation is also poised to begin delivering training to independent retailers through a programme backed by retail consultant and TV star Mary Portas.

The Mary Portas Guide to Successful Retailing will be delivered as a series of seven masterclasses covering different aspects of the business of retailing. And in September this year the first students will begin the new Diploma in Retail Business qualification.

National Skills Academy for Retail chair Jenefer Greenwood said the organisation is hopeful that the recently announced public sector spending cuts will not impact its plans. She added: “£3.6m in funding has been pledged in the past, and nothing in the Budget said anything against that. The signals we are getting are that the funding is secure.”

Backing for the organisation was given by retail entrepreneur Theo Paphitis, who attended the party to present certificates to, and welcome staff from, the 13 skill shops that have opened most recently.

He said: “I’m a massive fan of workplace learning. Retail is a whole career; it is not just about stacking shelves. It is huge industry that we all rely on.”

Reiterating Greenwood’s statement that “retail is not a default career”, Paphitis added: “It is a great subject for kids to learn about. It is not just a job you take because you are stupid or you can’t get anything else. It is a whole career.”

With thousands of retail employees and prospective job candidates already having benefited from its services, and the buzz created by the tie-up with Mary Portas, the organisation has much to show for its first year’s work.