Claire’s calls for better education on retail careers

Claireís, the fashion accessories retailer with 450 stores throughout the UK and Ireland, is launching a campaign to challenge the negative perceptions of working in retail and raise the profile of a wide-range of retail careers.

The campaign is being launched in Birmingham, home to Claireís Central Office, and links have been forged with The University of Central England (UCE) and North West City Jobs, a Birmingham-based organisation which partners with businesses to help promote career opportunities to people from deprived areas. Claireís is now looking for national opportunities to create links with organisations which promote careers in the retail sector and is currently in talks with national fashion schools and high profile retail events.

A pilot open evening was held last month at the firmís Central Office in Bromford Gate last month attracting over 200 people. The event showcased the range of typical positions available at Claireís including finance, buying and merchandising, IT, HR as well as working in the distribution centre where Claireís products are despatched throughout the UK, Holland, Belgium and Ireland.

Nicki Crossland, Human Resources Director at Claireís said: ìSo many people have an image of working in retail as either working on a checkout or standing on the shop floor. Our recruitment strategies over the past two years have shown these misconceptions mean that people often fail to realise the breadth of opportunities that exist in a retail business.

ìWe feel there is a need to educate people starting from school age about the scope of opportunity that exists in a career in retail where the environment is often fast-paced, exciting and challenging. We are looking at rolling out a schoolsí speaking programme over the next six months.î

ìWe have formed a partnership with industry recruitment portal Retail Choice who recently conducted some research for us looking at attitudes and perceptions of jobs in retail.

ìOur campaign is proactively tackling the issues head-on through a combination of initiatives designed to make more information available to people from potential store managers to head office staff. As well as our work with community groups and higher education establishments we have forged links with key industry publications and events,î adds Nicki.