TRAINING with the North East Chamber of Commerce has been the foundation of Katy Larder's success, helping her to gain promotion with a leading international clothing company.

Miss Larder, 22, who works for Austin Reed at its support services site in Thirsk, approached NECC's Northallerton training centre last year with a view to developing her skills by completing a foundation modern apprenticeship in customer service.

After completing the year-long training last summer, she is putting her new knowledge and skills to the test, having recently been promoted to the company's IT department, a grade higher than her previous position in the customer service department.

Miss Larder said: "Learning to develop my communication and presentation skills through training has played a big part in my promotion. I might not have the same level of customer contact as in the past, but my new post revolves round listening to problems and giving advice, so the skills required are exactly the same.'

Before training with the NECC, she had worked for Austin Reed for four years since leaving school. The work-based programme, run by advisers from the Northallerton centre, gave her training aimed at developing customer service skills through exercises designed to improve communication, team working and presentation. It also included IT and health and safety training.

During her job interview, she was able to impress the human resources team with the way she applied the knowledge gained from the course, in particular by producing maps of London, pinpointing Austin Reed stores, which could be used by staff to give directions to customers.

After her line manager noticed the impact it had on her approach to the job, a further three Austin Reed staff have enrolled on the same training course.

With ten training centres from Northumberland to North Yorkshire and up to 2,500 trainees on its books at any one time, the NECC is probably the largest provider of work-based training in the region. It has helped more than 8,000 trainees to find work in the past eight years.

Clare Greenock, training adviser at NECC's Northallerton centre, said: "This underlines the value of work-based training and shows what you can do when you're motivated. This wasn't something that Katy was obliged to do but something she chose to do herself and she is now reaping the rewards. Thanks to Katy, we're looking forward to helping other members of the Austin Reed team.'

For more information on training with the NECC, contact Wendy Starks, operations manager on 0191 386 1133.