• Apprenticeships

This month saw the launch of our latest Level 3 Business Administrator Apprenticeship – our Business Admin Accelerator. The latest cohort welcomes apprentices from TJX who will be studying alongside our own in-house FRA apprentices (we practice what we preach!)

This FRA Talent Lab apprenticeships builds a solid foundation of business acumen and skills, giving apprentices the ideal launchpad for a career in modern retail. It is an ideal first step for those without prior experience and, pitched at a level 3, makes an attractive alternative to university or other academic progression routes for savvy students.

For retailers, this is a great apprenticeship route to consider for a number of different audiences:

School leavers

Attract motivated school leavers looking to jump straight into the world of work. Use as a starting point to pipeline talent for multiple areas of your head office or fulfilment sites – Buying, Merch, HR, Marketing, Ecommerce, supply chain – before giving them the chance to specialise post-programme, progressing on to one of our L4 programmes in Buying, Merchandising, Garment and Product Tech, Data Analytics, UXUI, Digital Marketing, and from September 2023, CSR.

Internal progression

Mobilise and retain top talent from across other pockets of your organisation by offering a chance to transition into a head office or other centralised admin-focused role. By offering an internal progression route, you can retain brand-loyal talent from your retail, customer service and/or fulfilment functions, and development and support them to add-value in other areas of your business, aligned with their skillsets and your talent gaps. And, all funded by the apprenticeship levy.

Widening participation

If you’re looking to champion a diverse and inclusive workforce, our Level 3 Business Admin Accelerator is a great place to start. As an entry-level apprenticeship, it provides an opportunity to develop those without a traditionally ‘strong’ academic background as it starts with the foundations and builds from there. As with many apprenticeship standards, it does require a basic level of English and Maths (GCSEs or Functional Skills) which we offer as a dual pathway alongside the core programme. Our Functional Skills pathway is government funded so there are no additional costs to you.

Our Business Accelerator is offered as an open-access and closed-access apprenticeship programme over 15 months. We have four open access intakes a year – Feb, April, June and September – and can start closed-access programmes at a time that suits you. We use the principle of cohorting in all our delivery, so regardless of which route you choose, apprentices will always have a group of peers studying alongside them, providing integral support alongside our industry-experienced delivery team. More information about the programme can be found in our apprenticeship course directory.

We are always happy to hear from retailers looking for innovative ways to recruit and retain talent, and champion diversity in their workforce. If that sounds like you, drop us a quick enquiry and one of team will be in touch to chat further.