Homebase reveals more about the City & Guilds accredited ‘Homebase Gardening Licence’

With annual sales of more than £400m, 25 per cent of which are plants, Homebase Garden World is the second largest garden retailer in the UK and recognises that it has specific training requirements.

For more than five years, Homebase and MorePerformance have been developing a programme of high-quality training modules designed to equip their employees with core horticultural skills and awareness of the Garden World product range to deliver the best possible service to their customers.

The Homebase Gardening Licence is now a fully credited City & Guilds award. A range of interlinked elements includes access to online media via the company's learning zone intranet system that provides introductory information on popular plant areas.

Alongside this are three store-based training days delivered to groups of 15-20 by a specialist team at the 20 regional centres and home store-based exercises.

The programme also links to company initiatives such as www.getintogardening.co.uk and Plant Finder. A certificate is awarded by City & Guilds on successful completion of a formal assessment and validation process.

Over the past five years, almost 1,500 employees have completed training with more than 300 potential 'graduates' lined up to complete the first gardening licence programme this year.

Not only has the programme raised the profile of Homebase's gardening and garden products, it has remained focused on the specific needs of the gardening consumer.

Source : Horticulture Week
www.hortweek.com/News/1103956/Commitment-Staff-Development---Homebase-Gardening-Licence---Homebase-MorePerformance/