City College’s Marcus wins top national retail award

An outstanding retail trainer from Brighton is celebrating after being named the National Skills Academy for Retail ‘Trainer of the Year’ at the prestigious Skillsmart Retail Rising Stars Awards, run by Retail Week.

Marcus Pescod, who is a trainer for City College Brighton & Hove’s City Business Skills department, beat off tough competition to scoop the award. He received the accolade at the glitzy awards ceremony held at Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Mayfair on Thursday 8 September, which was attended by top names in retail, including Dragons’ Den star and Chairman of Ryman, Theo Paphitis.

Marcus’ work sees him deliver training to retail managers and their employees, as well as helping people get into retail. He impressed judges with his wealth of knowledge and consistent delivery of quality training.

His passion and enthusiasm for retail comes across in his work and his approachable nature has made him an asset to both City College Brighton and Hove and the Central South East Retail Skills Shop partnership – led by Central Sussex College and also including Guildford College and East Surrey College - which provides a unique training experience for retailers, including two specialist training ‘shops’ which offer courses developed to meet the needs of retailers in the area.

On winning the award Marcus said: “I’m thrilled to win – this has been an amazing night and the award is the icing on the cake. It is always great to be recognised for the work you do, but it is even better when you love that work. I have a genuine passion for retail and think it is important to try to raise the profile of it as a dedicated career path. I enjoy the satisfaction from helping learners and seeing them develop and gain confidence in themselves and their skills. With retailers, it is great to know the advice I have given has helped a business develop, grow and become more successful.”

Donna Keenan, Managing Director of City Business Skills at City College Brighton and Hove, said: “We’ve always felt that Marcus is an exceptional retail trainer and are so proud of his achievement and what it says about the level of training City College is delivering in Brighton.”

The Skillsmart Retail Rising Stars Awards are designed to recognise the best talent in all areas of retail, from star apprentices to top-notch marketeers and buyers, all demonstrating outstanding talent, aptitude and initiative in their roles – singling them out as the ones to watch.

The National Skills Academy for Retail Trainer of the Year award aims to find the finest retail trainer from the 50 National Skills Academy for Retail skills shops around the country. The category is sponsored by Seetec.

Jane Rexworthy, Head of the National Skills Academy for Retail, said: “Our warmest congratulations go to Marcus for triumphing in the Retail Trainer category. Marcus is clearly passionate about training and consistently delivers dynamic sessions which exceed delegates’ expectations. Passing on valuable retail knowledge is important to a sector which employs ten per cent of the working population. Knowing that people like Marcus are setting out to increase skills in the sector is a huge encouragement.

“Skills competitions like the Skillsmart Retail Rising Stars Awards are a fantastic way to unearth and reward the best talent – talent which may otherwise go unnoticed, especially in the fast-paced world of retail.”

Marcus is leading two forthcoming Mary Portas retail training courses ‘Creating Desire’ (September 20th) and ‘Buying for Your Customer’ (September 21st), both being offered at the discounted price of £100.

For more information on retail training through City Business Skills, email citybusiness@ccb.ac.uk, call on 01273 667756 and choose Option 2 (short courses for employers) or see www.ccb.ac.uk/cbs

For more information on the Skillsmart Rising Stars Awards please visit www.retailweekrisingstars.co.uk

For City College media enquiries, please call Brian Bell, Marketing Communications Officer, on 01273 667788 Ext. 488 or emailbb1@ccb.ac.uk

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