Last updated 11:10, Saturday, 22 November 2008

Exactly a year ago Kelly Hodgson was one of the first 10 people to graduate from a pioneering new course developed to boost the retail industry in Carlisle.

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Hoopers assistant general manager Kay Bracegirdle (centre) with Charlotte Saunders and Yousuf Ahmed who are now working at the store after completeing The Retail Academy cousre at The Lanes Shopping Centre in conjunction with Carlisle City Council, 4 November 2008 LOUISE POERTER

She landed a job as a Christmas temp at Superdrug on the same day she was presented with a certificate to mark her journey through the new retail academy, which was set up in response to the Carlisle floods in 2005.

Twelve months on and Kelly is one of the success stories of the academy as it celebrates its first anniversary and its first 100 graduates. The rolling programme of three-week intensive courses signs up candidates who want to retrain or are looking for work.

The students are given help to develop practical and transferable skills such as interviewing techniques, customer service and drawing up a CV to emotional and social aspects such as confidence and team-building. They also learn about different aspects of retail and take part in activities such as ‘mystery shopper’ visits to find out more about an industry that many commonly dismiss when considering the skills and dedication needed to work within it. The course was drawn up to help meet the skills shortage identified by leading employers.

Mother-of-one Kelly, 29, of Morton, said: “I was taken on as a temp at Christmas, I was still here in March and then I was offered a permanent job. The retail academy really gave me my confidence back. I’d certainly recommend it for people who are in the position I was. I’d been out of work for around seven years.

“I’m here doing 16 hours a week. That suits me because of family responsibilities, and now I’m working on Superdrug’s own level one training log book. I love it here – the people are great and I love the variety of the job and the fact that it is so customer-focussed.”

Kelly is not alone. Around 30-40 per cent of those who have already taken part have been mums looking to return to work.

Meanwhile two of the latest graduates are Charlotte Saunders and Yousuf Ahmed, who both work at Hoopers after going through the academy in September. Former St Aidan’s School pupil Charlotte was out of work three months ago. She had worked as a waitress for four years but was facing unemployment.

Charlotte, 19, of London Road, said: “I knew I wanted to work but waitressing was not for me. I went to the JobCentre and they told me about the retail academy.

“I always said I wouldn’t work in a shop. In some shops I’d been in, the staff weren’t nice and they’d stand there not helping. I thought it’d be boring standing behind a counter all day. It had put me off. But I agreed to go on the course to see what I could learn.

“It was like going back into a classroom. There were about 12 of us. We did tests in English and maths to see where we were all at but everyone was in the same position. It wasn’t bad. Doing the course made me realise how much work goes into retail.”

Charlotte decided to apply to Hoopers after visiting the store during a ‘mystery shopper’ exercise. She said: “Everyone seemed so nice. On my first day within the first 10 minutes at least five people walked past and talked to me.

“I also like the fact that I’m meeting customers, you chat to regulars and you find out about their lives, what they like, and they find out about you.”

While Charlotte is in ladieswear, 25-year-old Yousuf is the senior sales consultant in menswear.

He has returned to work after overcoming a series of health problems that arose following treatment for head injuries from a road accident four years ago.

Yousuf said: “I’d worked in retail already, in London and in sports shops in Carlisle, but after getting the all-clear to go to work again after the operations this year I went along to the JobCentre.

“I knew it was all about renewing my CV and they were training me, helping me back into work.”

Kaye Bracegirdle, assistant general manager at Hoopers, said: “People have usually fallen into retail but you can get a very good career out of it.

“Retailers and employers are realising how important it is to recruit the right people. If they don’t have the right people on the shop floor with the right skills they are not going to sell their products.

“This allows companies to invest in their future and help bring fresh blood through. You also know as a local employer what training they have had if they have come through the academy.”

The retail academy was set up in the wake of the 2005 floods and forms part of the Carlisle Renaissance regeneration programme. Sessions are run in the management suite of The Lanes.

Consultant Mark Crawford runs the courses on behalf of The Lanes Shopping Centre, Carlisle City Council and Carlisle College. There is a high success rate but graduates do not exclusively find work in retail. Earlier this year around 70 per cent of graduates were successful in finding a job. The figure is currently sitting at around 55 per cent because a series of courses were held recently in quick succession.

With a retail career stretching back almost 35 years, David Jackson, commercial director at The Lanes, played a key role bringing the academy to Carlisle.

He said: “Mark was running a similar academy at the Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow, which is owned by the same company as The Lanes.

“I thought it would be good to bring it to Carlisle. At the same time retailers locally were saying what a struggle they were having recruiting the right kinds of people.” He added: “As an ex-retailer, I’m passionate about the industry and I know it can provide excellent careers.

“Many people think it is all about standing behind a counter all day but there is a huge plethora of jobs available.

“In a small shop it could be the same person that fulfils all the roles but in the larger companies you can specialise in departments. They have their own accounts units, human resources departments, merchandising and display, warehouse and distribution networks and then you’ve got all levels of management.”

Eventually Mr Jackson wants the retail academy to have its own permanent base in the city centre. He would also like to develop a course for school leavers.