With the focus on helping local retailers survive the high street slump reported regularly in the media, Solihull College has announced it will be supporting one local independent business in Solihull with its skills and training for staff in the New Year.
Fabulous, the popular jewellers in Solihull’s Touchwood shopping centre will be working with the College’s Employer Services Team from January 2015 to help deliver the Guide to Successful Retailing to staff across their four stores.
Jo Stroud, Managing Director of Fabulous comments:”We are using this as a base to really develop the skills of the management team, particularly looking at issues like stock management, stock turn and seasonality of stock. I feel that our customer service and marketing skills are very strong, but we perhaps could be better at managing our stock, so the working with Solihull College to deliver the training is perfect for that.”
Fabulous is also, with the help of Solihull College, launching Retail Apprenticeships for younger staff members, to encourage them to see retail as a serious career option and give them genuine development opportunities.
Shaun Hindle, Senior Director of Employment and Skills at Solihull College comments: “Fabulous is a great example of how the College can help small businesses across Solihull and Birmingham, but in a way that suits them. We have a really good team who are able to work closely with employers to build bespoke training and we have helped various local businesses train their employees this year, which has ultimately had a positive effect on their customer service and staff morale”?
In addition to working with Fabulous, the College has successfully been delivering bespoke training to small and medium sized employers across Solihull and Birmingham for a number of years. Over the past twelve months the College has been working with a host of local employers including: Birmingham Airport, Webbs of Wychbold, Lion Containers and International Automotive Components (IAC), and the number is continuing to grow.
The Employer Services Team are able to tailor make training courses and deliver skills training to staff, either in-house or externally at the College’s Blossomfield Campus. To find out more about how the College can help with bespoke training and skills delivery in 2015, please call the Solihull College Employer Services Team on 0121 678 7181.
