Training cash to ensure staff are first class

The Sentinel - 11/05/09

Mobile phone retailer Phones 4u says it will invest £5 million in staff training this year.

In addition, the business - which has a head office on Lymedale Business Park - has spent more than £1 million on a new state-of-the-art training and induction facility in Fort Dunlop, Birmingham. Operations director Tom Shorten said: “This reflects our commitment to our teams and will ensure that Phones 4u has the most knowledgeable, skilled and best-supported staff in the mobile industry. Current market conditions make it even more important for staff to be the very best they can be, and despite the tough economic climate, Phones 4u will continue to invest in its people and the business.” Phones 4u is one of the largest retailers in the UK to sign up to the Government’s Skills Pledge - a voluntary, public commitment made by an organisation to invest in the skills of its workforce - and it says both existing and new staff will have access to training. Since joining the scheme, more than 1,600 Phones 4u employees have qualified as apprentices. Skills Minister Lord Anthony Young said: “I am really pleased to see such a prestigious organisation pioneering a partnership investment of such proportion with the support of the Government’s National Employer Service to develop their workforce with the skills needed into today’s challenging climate. Businesses should not lose focus of the importance of staff development.”