Selco colleagues across its 74 branches have been given the chance to enhance their careers through its ‘Rising Stars’ initiative.

The programme was originally launched in 2020 to mark Selco’s 125th anniversary and offers the chance for Selco colleagues to complete level two, three or four nationally recognised retail qualifications.

More than 160 Selco colleagues have either completed their apprenticeship, are part way through their qualification or are about to begin.

“We were excited about this programme at the start and it has proved to be a huge success.

“We selected a course with a high level of practical elements and then made it bespoke to the requirements of the operations here at Selco.

“That means that our colleagues are learning by putting into practice the work they do on a day-to-day basis, gaining greater knowledge for their current job and having a tangible benefit to their careers.

“We have already seen a high number of our colleagues not only complete their apprenticeship and achieve their qualification but also secure a promotion off the back of it.

“We are committed to giving colleagues the chance to create a genuine career path and providing them with the skills, techniques and self-development to do that. We are looking forward to celebrating many more apprentices in the future.”

Those celebrations feature a full graduation ceremony, with successful apprentices wearing cap-and-gown attire.

“The Rising Stars initiative has been fantastic to be involved with and we are delighted to help Selco introduce such a comprehensive training package for their branch colleagues.

“It’s brilliant to see a major national company like Selco investing heavily in its people and being fully committed to their development.”

The courses run for between 12 and 18 months and focus on 16 key areas, including customer, financial, leadership, technology, team performance and the environment. Regional classroom sessions are also held around the country.

Level two qualifications are open for colleagues who aspire to progress to be a supervisor, level three is for colleagues holding a supervisory position who wish to have the opportunity to become a duty manager and level four offers duty and deputy managers the chance to enhance their skills and further develop their knowledge relevant to Selco.