From the Express and Echo

Princesshay has joined forces with Exeter College to launch a series of training courses aiming to boost the skills of retail employees.The college will offer a range of courses at different vocational levels for staff working at Princesshay stores.

Known as Exsell, the scheme has just been launched by Princesshay and has seen hundreds of information packs delivered to stores throughout the development.

Three levels of courses will be offered – for staff at the start of their retail career, for those who may be experienced in retail but have few formal qualifications and for workers in supervisory roles who may become middle managers in the future.

Trevor Hooper, of the Exeter Retail Skills Partnership, which was set up to increase the skills of the city’s retailing workers, said: “There is a need for training to make sure retailers compete effectively with other sectors. It’s important for both younger and older workers.”

Exsell coincides with calls by the Learning and Skills Council’s Devon director, Dr Chris Roberts, that the city needs to revise its training to ensure locals can effectively compete for jobs.

Dr Roberts said: “The Exeter economy is booming at the moment but it is worrying that many of the higher skilled jobs tend to go to people living outside the area.

We want to reverse that trend by raising aspirations – particularly among young people. The LSC’s challenge is to ensure that the right infrastructure and the right courses are available and accessible to the people who will benefit from them. It is no good providing training for jobs that no longer exist and, as the local economy accelerates, we have to ensure that we are meeting current and anticipated skills’ demand. These are very exciting times for Exeter but, while there is a lot to celebrate, too many people are missing out because they don’t have the right level of skills to take advantage of what is on offer and too many businesses are having to look outside the region for the employees they need. We cannot rely on education and training decisions that were made 30 or 40 years ago because the world has changed.

Michelle Snowball, head of customer recruitment for Exeter Business School, said: “Exsell is a one-stop training solution bringing together a range of packages to ensure local retail employees can take up training that is flexible, relevant and suited to organisations’ specific needs.”

Princesshay manager Sally Henley said: “We’ve worked in collaboration with Exeter College’s Business School and the university to produce this useful recruitment pack, which we believe is the first of its kind in the region. So far, the response from retailers has been extremely positive.”