Seetec has been appointed by Westfield, to run Stratford City’s 8,500 square feet ‘Retail Academy’ at what is now Europe’s largest indoor shopping centre, which opened in mid September. The Academy will be pivotal in the training and recruitment of staff, to match around 3,000 of the expected overall total of 13,000 vacancies which will be generated by the development. Thereafter the Academy is expected to train over 1,000 people annually towards careers and qualifications in retail, hospitality, administration and support occupations.
The Retail Academy will also offer employment search opportunities to the public and provide local retailers the chance to advertise job vacancies. For new stores opening in Westfield Stratford City, Seetec’s Academy will assist the retailer in sourcing staff, who have participated in the pre-employment retail programme Retail Works and similarly the People 1st Hospitality pre-employment programme will be available to those aiming at the hospitality sector.
The state of the art, 8,000 sqft skills centre will be at the heart of the Westfield shopping centre itself, providing exciting new training and employment opportunities to thousands, many of whom will be local residents from Essex and East London
Commenting on the visit, Mark said:
‘I was really pleased to be given the opportunity to meet once again with both the Chief Executive, and the Business Development and Marketing Director at Seetec. We discussed the new Westfield Stratford City development, and how Seetec operates both locally and nationally supporting communities with a range of employment and training programmes, such as the Mandatory Work Activity programme, which Seetec also helps deliver on behalf of the Department of Work and Pensions. Seetec is a major employer in my constituency, whose core aim is to help people find training and employment, and I look forward to remaining in touch with them in the future.”