Hats off to training initiative

One of the oldest department stores in the county, Eaden Lilley at Saffron Walden, has been given a whole new outlook thanks to the radical training initiative Profit from Learning.

Now the 250 year-old family-run store has joined the growing band of success stories from the scheme, which is working with 1,000 Essex businesses and 4,000 learners, making it the most successful Employer Training Pilot in the country.

Explaining how the cutting edge initiative is working for the historic business, Eaden Lilley store manager, Joan Le Fever said: “Being such an old firm we have a great respect for tradition, but we are aware that we have to look to the future to make sure our staff have the skills needed to succeed in the retail world in the twenty first century.

“We have nine or ten people from all departments, about half our staff, who are now taking part in the Profit from Learning programme with the help of trainers from Harlow College. The courses are completed in the store, minimising disruption to day-to-day business and enabling staff to gain skills which directly relate to their jobs. It has given our older staff members the chance to do NVQs at Level 2 and for many of them this is their first qualification they have taken since leaving school.

They are absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to acquire new skills and to gain proper recognition of their existing skills, some for the first time.”

Rightly proud of her staff, Joan concludes: “We like to say we are one of Essex’s oldest department stores but we are leading the way in the county’s newest training schemes.”

As it celebrates signing up 1,000 businesses to the scheme in less than a year, the Profit from Learning team hopes the vote of confidence from employers and workers like those at Eaden Lilley will encourage more companies to get involved and benefit from what’s on offer.

David Sellings, Profit from Learning Project Manager, said: “Joan Le Fever and her team at Eaden Lilley are a superb example of how Profit from Learning is making a difference. This is not just another training initiative. It is a scheme that is bringing tangible differences to companies and individuals in Essex.”