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Spirit Academy celebrates its graduates

Spirit Group has raised a toast to the first pub managers to 'graduate' from its new learning and development centre.

They have completed a series of residential courses at the venue, which forms part of the Spirit Academy, the umbrella name for the pub company's employee training and development offer.

The programme is designed to enable participants to progress from stage to stage in groups and in between courses put what they learn into practice at their Spirit pubs. They are required to prepare and implement a practical action plan after each level, which is later assessed by their business development manager

David Mayes, head of retail training within Spirit, said: "This level of investment in our people marks a new era for Spirit in terms of giving our managers the skills to become professional retailers.

"We are proud of our first 'graduates' and we will be celebrating their achievement at the company's managers' conference in November.

"The courses have gone so well that we are now looking to expand our retail manager offer, by introducing additional externally recognised professional qualifications in addition to our in-house qualifications."

More than 180 new retail managers and new managers in training will start their Academy programme at the Northampton centre this year.

Group HR director Karen Caddick said: "We understand the value of training and believe in providing our retail managers with the skills and knowledge they need to effectively carry out their roles and develop to their full potential.

"We are passionate about our pubs and having well trained and motivated people in place to deliver consistently high levels of service. The Academy plays a key role in achieving this."

Spirit Group is the managed house division of Punch Taverns plc.

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