Fully funded through the Department for the Economy’s Flexible Skills Fund and Skills Focus, the webinar series will be followed, from September, with technical masterclasses and retail skills-based training delivered by Belfast Met, Northern Regional College, North West Regional College, South Eastern Regional College, Southern Regional College and South Western Regional College, who are working in partnership with Retail NI to offer a tailored programme.
Glyn Roberts, Chief Executive, Retail NI said, “The retail sector has been under huge strain since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and has only recently become fully operational again. Normal working practices have not been possible across the sector which is subject to continuous changes in restrictions.”
He added, “The face of retail has changed dramatically, and it is vitally important we support retail skills requirements with a co-ordinated approach from the FE colleges.”
Belfast Met is delighted to be working with the other FE colleges to deliver the programme and urges retail businesses to contact its Centre for Economic Development to find out more about the support that is available to them.
Siobhan Lyons, Head of Economic Development at Belfast Met, added, “We are pleased to be delivering The Retail Recovery Programme in collaboration with each of the six FE Colleges. This programme offers the Retail sector the opportunity to gain valuable skills in areas that can support business growth after a very turbulent year.”
The Retail Recovery programme runs from August through to December 2021 and is bite-sized to build on skills and develop new ones – participants have access to the latest thinking on marketing, branding, digital and entrepreneurial skills whilst gaining sector desirable qualifications from Level 2 through to Level 5.
From September, Belfast Met will be delivering two technical masterclasses in Instagram and Creating Your Brand Online, whilst also supporting skills development through an ILM Level 3 Award in Leadership and Management and OCN Level 2 Award in Digital Marketing.
For more information or to register your place, please contact Margaret McCabe at mmccabe@belfastmet.ac.uk
Visit bit.ly/CollegesRetailRecovery for more details.
Pictured: Glyn Roberts, Chief Executive, Retail NI with Rachel Burns, Economic Development Manager at Belfast Met.
