UK-headquartered electrical and telecommunications retailer Dixons Carphone has opened a new training facility, The Academy@Fort Dunlop, to improve customer service.
Located in Birmingham, the new facility opened following a £3m revamp. The retailer will use the centre to double the training hours invested in new employees.
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This move complements the company’s strategy announced in December last year to invest in learning and development for its 20,000 UK & Ireland employees.
The 19,000ft2 centre can offer an additional 400,000 hours of training to more than 6,000 employees every year. It will also conduct sessions for managers.
It features four mock store environments, eight training rooms and 22 supplier zones.
Dixons Carphone chief people officer Paula Coughlan said: “Capable and committed colleagues are our greatest advantage. We want Dixons Carphone to continue to be a magnet for great talent and we are investing more than ever before in giving our colleagues the tools and skills to put our customers first from their first day in-store.
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By GlobalData“The Academy@Fort Dunlop is about giving our colleagues the best possible start to their careers with us, so that they can help our customers choose, afford and enjoy amazing technology.”
The retailer also plans to introduce the Ignite 90-day learning and development programme to all new employees, by February 2020, as a three-day residential induction at the facility.
As part of the induction, all employees will receive training with focus on enhancing customer service and helping customers select and buy the right products.
Dixons Carphone currently employs more than 42,000 people in nine countries, including the UK, Ireland, Greece and the Nordics.
