21651_Arcadia 10/3/06 2:23 pm Page 1

The recruitment, selection

Arcadia Group
and training of people at
Arcadia
01_Introduction
The Arcadia Group Limited is one of the UK’s largest fashion retail
companies. It employs around 25,000 people and has over 2,000
outlets in the UK. It also has a growing number of stores abroad. The
group includes eight major high street brands (see diagram). Each
brand targets its own market segment.

In 2002, Philip Green bought
Arcadia for £800 million. He
changed it from a public limited
company (plc) to a private limited
company (Ltd). Since then the
Arcadia Group has been extremely
successful. In 2005, the Group’s turnover was over
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Green has an excellent grasp of what customers
want and what they are willing to pay for. This
comes from his life-long passion for retailing. He
started in shoe wholesaling at 16. He set up his
own business at 21. Throughout his career, he has
turned around under-performing retail businesses.
To do this Green has excellent staff around him.

£1.7 billion. Its profits were over £326 million. This is the result of good recruitment, selection and
training programmes.
Philip Green’s management style is entrepreneurial.
He is always looking for new business
opportunities. He seeks new and better ways of
doing things. Green says, “I am brave but I take a Recruitment Selection Training
view. It is an educated view. I am careful; I am not
reckless.” Green is interested in all aspects of
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Arcadia’s business. He wants to know what the

stores are stocking and how the products are
displayed (this is known as “visual merchandising”).
His employees are set high targets but have the
authority to decide how best to achieve them. They
are encouraged to use their initiative.
02_Recruitment
The success of Arcadia relies on the quality of its
employees, such as its store managers and its sales
staff. To attract the right applicants the company
must have an effective recruitment process. 029

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Arcadia Group

Recruitment occurs both at store level (with each 04_Training and

store recruiting its own sales advisors) and centrally. development
Arcadia’s Head Office is using specially designed
Recruiting the right people
management development programmes to target
does not guarantee
two groups: school leavers, and newly qualified
performance. Employees must
graduates. With these programmes Arcadia is
also be trained effectively.
looking to recruit the next generation of students who
are passionate about a career in retailing and able to Much of the training at Arcadia
become future leaders in the business. The Retail is on-the-job and occurs
Management Trainee Programme (MTP) targets within the stores. Off-the-job-
students with 2 A levels or equivalent. The Graduate training is used for general
Retail Management Programme targets students management skills. The
who have Graduated from University. training at Arcadia is linked
closely to developing the
To attract applications the company: competencies that the
• attends career fairs and presentations company looks for in its
• produces advertisements and posters recruits (see section 2). These
• uses in-store communications
competencies are enterprise
• advertises on the company website
related. They are essential for
(www.arcadia.co.uk/recruitment).
anyone wanting to be a
successful retail manager.
When recruiting new employees Arcadia looks for
specific abilities. These are called competencies.
The key competencies are: The training on the Retail
• working with people Management Trainee
• putting the customer first Programme includes:
• maximising impact • induction training to learn
• inspiring performance about retailing and store
• driving the business forward operations
• making the right choices • workshops that focus on
• understanding the role. core skills, these include
team motivation and
Recruitment is an important part of workforce
planning
planning. Organisations must anticipate their
• learning about specific
workforce needs and take actions to meet these.
areas of responsibility, such
At Arcadia, the opening of new stores and the
as managing a store team
expansion of existing outlets means more staff must
be recruited. • visiting stores on placements
to learn about how they operate.
03_Selection
The selection process for the Retail Management Successful recruits must also produce a personal
Trainee Programme has two stages: development plan. This helps them prepare for their
a) an online application future management position.
b) attending an assessment centre.
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Progression on the Retail Management Trainee

The online application form involves a number of Programme can be rapid. A trainee can have their
questions. These focus on the competencies
first management position after just one year.
required by Retail Management Trainees.
A typical career path is:
Candidates who do well in their answers are invited
to an assessment centre.
Area Manager
The selection process at the assessment centre
takes place over one day. It involves structured
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Senior Store Manager

interviews and team activities. Group exercises
allow a close analysis of how well someone works Manager (small store) or
with other people. This is a key aspect of retailing. Deputy Manager (medium store)
A place on the Retail Management Trainee
Programme is offered to candidates who are Management Trainee
030 successful at the assessment centre.

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to making the final decisions. The training programme

Arcadia Group
also gives you the opportunity to attend workshops.
At these workshops, you learn about the theory
behind retail management. You can also discuss and
share your experiences with the other trainees. A
retail manager’s role involves many skills - I cannot
wait to develop all of these!"

Deputy Store Manager

Natasha Minty
Evans, The Plaza, London Oxford Street.

"As a Deputy Manager, my responsibilities vary on a

day-to-day basis. They range from managing and
training a large team of people to influencing the
commercial success of the store. I have to be a
multi-specialist. I am often a coach, strategist, and
an accountant all in one day! As a Deputy Store
Manager, you have to be people orientated. You
have to enjoy interacting and influencing those
around you."
Internal recruitment is
encouraged at Arcadia. The
Operations Manager
company appoints managers
Rosalyn Rasdale, Topshop Dublin St Stephens
by promoting from within (Giga-Store).
whenever it can. Internal
recruitment is preferred
"I am Operations Manager of one of the largest
because existing employees:
stores within Arcadia. This involves implementing
• Know the culture of the
operational controls and procedures, which means
business already; this means
looking after the running of everything that goes on
that they understand
behind the scenes. I do this by motivating and
how the business works and
leading my dedicated team. My responsibilities
already have a network of contacts so can adapt
include cash and stock loss prevention, scheduling
to their new role more easily.
and payroll of the store team, maintenance and
• Understand the business, this saves time in training.
security of the store premises and looking after staff
• Are motivated to remain with the business because
and customer welfare. I am involved at both ends of
of the promotion opportunities. This reduces
the retail operation. I see the product coming in in
recruitment costs because staff stay longer.
the morning and handle the cash taken from sales
at the end of the night!"
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See the following profile examples of current Arcadia

employees:
Management Trainee
Troy Fairlie, Burton, Leeds Headrow
"It has been a whirlwind few months since joining
Arcadia's Retail Management Trainee Programme.
Area Manager
Sarah Richardson, Miss Selfridge.
"As an Area Manager I am responsible for managing
19 stores across Scotland and the North East of
England and our flagship store on Oxford Street. No
two days are the same. The pace of change within
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I now have the skills and confidence to manage the
day-to-day running of the store on my own. I have
also been given some important responsibilities,
such as overseeing the recruitment of all the
Christmas temporary staff. I managed the entire
process from short-listing and interviewing candidates
the business stretches and challenges you. To be an
Area Manager you need an ability to lead, inspire
and develop a high calibre team. You need to look
actively to exploit profit opportunities. You need
good business skills and a focus on customer
service." 031

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Arcadia Group

05_Educational links
The Arcadia group builds links with schools and
supports the Fashion Retail Academy to develop
entrepreneurial and retail talent in students.

a. Links with schools and colleges

To develop its links with communities and students,
Arcadia is a major business partner to 50 secondary
schools. It provides both financial and business skills
support to each of these schools, to support them in
their bids to gain specialist status as Business and
Enterprise Colleges.

An Arcadia employee works with every partner

school. He or she will:
• talk to students about retail careers and interview
techniques
• provide work experience opportunities for under
16s in local Arcadia stores
• set business studies projects. 06_Conclusion
The Arcadia Group is a highly successful retail
b. Fashion Retail Academy company. Its success is due to the leadership of Philip
The Fashion Retail Academy opened in September Green and the quality of its employees. It has a good
2005 in central London and is a training ground for programme of recruitment and selection. It has Retail
entrepreneurial talent. The ultimate aim is to Management Trainee Programmes for school leavers
encourage students to join established fashion and graduates. On joining Arcadia, employees are
The Times Newspaper Limited and ©MBA Publishing Ltd 2006. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy

retailers or to go on to run their own businesses given responsibilities early on. They are able to
of information, neither the publisher nor the client can be held responsible for errors of omission or commission.

within the retail industry. Philip Green said "The
principal idea and concept for the Fashion Retail
Academy is to train and prepare the next generation
of young people for the work place by teaching and
developing the fundamental skills required in the
Retail Industry".
progress quickly in the organisation and can be
promoted rapidly. Working in retailing is exciting. Each
day there are new challenges. Employees have to
learn to plan, make decisions and lead a team of
people. They receive substantial training. This helps
them to do their jobs more effectively.

Assessment centre: is a place where recruits are Off-the-job-training: is training that does not
GLOSSARY OF TERMS

tested to decide which ones to select. happen when you are actually doing the job e.g. it
may be at a training centre.

Competencies: are skills that people need to

On-the-job-training: is training that occurs whilst
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complete their job effectively.

people do the job.

Induction training: is training that happens when Selection process: is the way in which a firm
decides who to employ.
someone first joins an organisation. It introduces

them to their job and the business.

Workforce planning: involves estimating future
human resource requirements and ensuring the firm
Market segment: is a part of a market that has has right number of people, in the right place, with
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customers with similar needs and wants. the right skills at the right time.

For more information about Arcadia please browse:

www.arcadiagroup.co.uk
032

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