A FASHION boutique owner is to be the first to try a scheme that promises to change the future of retailing in the region.
Jeanette Davies, who runs Dusty's Daughter in the MetroCentre, Gateshead, is to pioneer the Passport initiative, which helps to put shopworkers on the road to a successful and fulfilling career.
Developed by Team Valley's Jigsaw Training and funded by the Learning and Skills Council, the initiative is to be piloted in the MetroCentre before being extended nationally.
It provides employees in the shopping centre with a long-term structured training programme, focusing on product knowledge, people skills, productivity and customer service.
The scheme, which involves on-the-job learning as well as skills building at Jigsaw's MetroPeople training centre, leads to an NVQ Level II qualification in retail operations.
Recruits are given a "passport" on which their skills are recorded.
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