Garden Retail Awards Finalist!

19 September 2011

In 2006 MorePerformance and Homebase started working together to develop a training programme that could deliver core horticultural skills and product knowledge on a consistent and accessible level to a wide range of their retail colleagues.

Today the Homebase Gardening Licence is a fully accredited award recognised by City & Guilds and delivered at 20 regional centres across the UK and Ireland. The programme not only includes three face to face seasonally themed training sessions but now also incorporates integrated online backup and formal knowledge validation via the company's 'Learning Zone' intranet system. This is further supplemented by learning exercises held back in store in between the formal store based training days.

That's 5 years of hard work, cooperation and teamwork between MorePerformance and the Homebase Garden World team that's seen nearly 1500 employees undergo horticultural training and over 300 potential 'graduates' lined up to complete the first C&G approved Gardening Licence programme this year.

So naturally we are delighted that this unique programme has seen Homebase shortlisted as finalists in the 'Commitment to Staff Development Category' at the 2011 Garden Retail Awards, held this year on 31st October at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane.

It's great accolade to be nominated but of course it would be even better to win it so please keep fingers, and everything else, crossed for us on the 31st!