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Sainsbury’s newly opened Convenience Training College in Brixton to train team leaders and store managers

Brixton, UK, 2014-3-26 — /EPR Retail News/ — Sainsbury’s has today marked the opening of a trailblazing new facility in London, which will run 2,000 training courses in the first year alone for its management teams in Local convenience stores.

The new Convenience Training College is based in Brixton and will train team leaders and store managers in a range of technical and behavioural skills. Over the next four years, Sainsbury’s has over 3,000 team leader and management positions in the pipeline to power the growth of convenience stores in Greater London.

Sainsbury’s is the only supermarket to open a facility of this kind, purely dedicated to leadership training. The news comes after a recent recruitment campaign in London to find 500 team leaders and 200 managers for its convenience stores, with 60 new stores due to open in London and the South East over the next year. There are currently 185 convenience stores in Greater London, employing over 6,000 people.

Director of Convenience for Sainsbury’s, Simon Twigger, said: “Our stores in London employ thousands of people, and this will only increase over the next few years. As a major employer, Sainsbury’s is always looking for new ways to give our colleagues the opportunity to train and develop with us – so the new Training College will not only benefit our convenience store growth, but it will give our managers the expertise and theoretical knowledge about what it means to be a leader in retail.

“Running a store is like running your own business, so being a good store manager is about knowing your customers, your community and your colleagues. This new training facility will now boost and support those skills with detailed management expertise, to go even further to help our colleagues run our stores and power our convenience growth in the Capital.”

The College has six training rooms and will be run by ‘Convenience Capability Trainers’, to ensure that everyone has the right skills for the job. It complements Sainsbury’s existing and established training facilities – the six Food Colleges and one Bakery College. The six Colleges are located at Murrayfield, Bradford, Oldbury, London Colney, Calcot, Hempstead Valley and Wellingborough.

Karen Skipper, a store manager in training from Wimbledon Broadway, will be one of the first candidates to use the College. She said: “I’m really looking forward to being one of the first through the door at the College. Having the space to focus and develop while you’re training in store is really important, and it will be great to share experiences with peers so we can continue to give our customers a great service.”

In November last year, Sainsbury’s was awarded a ‘Gold’ accreditation by industry body Investors in People for the second consecutive time. Sainsbury’s is still the first and only supermarket that’s been recognised in this way for developing, supporting and motivating their colleagues.

Notes to editors

  • For more information and to apply, visit the Sainsbury’s jobs website: http://sainsburys.jobs/
  • Over the next financial year, Sainsbury’s look to recruit 500 team leaders, 100 store managers and 100 deputy managers
  • Sainsbury’s opened its first convenience store in 1998 in Hammersmith
  • There are over 47,000 convenience stores in UK (IGD)
  • The value of UK convenience sector is £35.6bn rising to £46.2bn by 2018 (IGD)
  • The convenience market generated total sales of £35.6bn in the 12 months to April 2013. This equates to a 4.9% year on year increase (IGD)
  • Sainsbury’s employ 157,000 people across the UK in supermarkets, convenience stores, depots and offices
  • Sainsbury’s will create around 6,000 job opportunities across the UK in the next year
  • Sainsbury’s is the only UK food retailer to be given a ‘Gold’ accreditation by Investors in People for the second consecutive time, recognising how colleagues are engaged in the business and given training opportunities
  • There is training for development and growth through the retailers established ‘You Can Be’ initiative, helping people progress with practical training. Sainsbury’s colleagues can also get externally accredited City and Guilds training at one of Sainsbury’s Food Colleges

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Sainsbury’s newly opened Convenience Training College in Brixton to train team leaders and store managers
Sainsbury’s newly opened Convenience Training College in Brixton to train team leaders and store managers
EPR Retail News