Leading UK supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has chosen Center Parcs as the setting for a programme of over 70 training events between May and August 2011.
By the end of the programme over 2600 senior Store Managers will have been trained across the four UK Center Parcs venues, as well as other key Sainsbury’s personnel including Operating Board members.
As well as the internal training course for approximately 40 Sainsbury’s colleagues, each two day event also includes an evening barbecue with delegates getting into the team spirit by preparing side dishes and desserts in their lodges. The training is also complemented by teambuilding activities including the ‘Spiders Web Challenge’ and an ‘Orienteering Course’.
The training programme will later be cascaded by the attendees to Sainsbury’s colleagues working in store. The Center Parcs corporate events team worked alongside venue agency Pro-ven to secure the contract with Sainsbury’s.
Sainsbury’s, Director of Colleague Engagement Jacki Connor commented on why Center Parcs won the training contract with Sainsbury’s, “A number of years ago we launched our flagship ‘Making Sainsbury’s Great Again’ programme at Center Parcs so the resorts have played a part in Sainsbury’s recent growth and success. We were looking for venues that not only offered a peaceful environment but also one which could allow team games as it was crucial to the success of the sessions to foster a sense of teamwork between our colleagues in the store support centre and the colleagues out in the field in stores and depots’. These factors, combined with the central locations of their resorts, made Center Parcs the natural choice.”
Ian Linley, Head of Corporate Sales for Center Parcs commented “It’s been great to welcome Sainsbury’s back to Center Parcs as they held a series of similar events with us four years ago at Elveden Forest. The location of our four venues across the UK in Wiltshire, Suffolk, Nottinghamshire and Cumbria has allowed Sainsbury’s staff to easily attend the events wherever they are based in the country. Our forest environment also provides an inspiring environment in which to learn and engage with colleagues.”
