City College’s Marcus offers Portas magic to local retailers

City College Brighton and Hove is running a free taster session on June 1st to herald the launch of the College’s new Retail Training programme, ‘The Mary Portas Masterclass’, incorporating the tried and trusted methods of TV’s top retail guru.

The taster session and a range of seven different Masterclasses will be delivered by tutor, Marcus Pescod, who has over 20 years of retail experience working for some of the biggest high street names as well as providing retail training to well-known local retailers such as The Book Nook, Fair, Cybercandy and Lust.

Held at various locations around the region, the one day master-classes offer the opportunity to learn many of the ‘tricks of the trade’ of high street retailing and will provide insights into visual merchandising, store layout to maximise profit, use of colour, adjacent sales techniques and achieving the highest level of customer service.

City College has recently formed a partnership with other colleges in the south to create The Central South East Skills Shop, and as a member of the National Skills Academy for Retail, the College is now able to deliver these exclusive masterclasses which have been developed by the retail expert herself and Skillsmart.

“Retailers really need to understand their customers, know the market place, find unique selling points and have a passion for what they do”, says Marcus.

“Training retailers in the Portas methods to maximise profitability can create a real change in any business, whatever size. Even if you’ve had many years of retail experience, or are new to the sector, this course can reinforce knowledge or provide new tips and techniques to turn even the most difficult retail space into a real money spinner. I’ve found that a key differentiator on the Mary Portas Masterclass is its adaptability to different retailers. Through it, I’m able to teach techniques that the large, highly profitable retailers are using and work together with individuals to make it work in their particular environment. Ultimately, it’s about ensuring maximum profitability per square foot and getting footfall through the shop door.”

Marcus’s free Mary Portas Masterclass taster session at City College is on Wednesday 1st June 6-8pm. Following on from the session, there will be the opportunity to network and discuss in more detail the various one day master-classes and an opportunity to book a place. Refreshments will be provided.

For more details or to book a place on the taster session or one-day masterclasses, call City College on 01273 667756 (option 2 or 4) check out the website on http://www.ccb.ac.uk/public/employers/mary-portas or email Marcus at mpe@ccb.ac.uk