Month: March 2010

newsXpress has launched the newsXpress Retail Training Academy. In partnership with Ganador Management Solutions (the Registered Training Organisation = RTO), newsXpress has created the industry’s first training program specifically designed around a newsagency marketing group and its principles.

“As a marketing group newsXpress has procured the services of a progressive RTO to develop and customise the training material to simultaneously meet government standards and meet specific, practical requirements of its members.” Opined Dr Dennis Price, CEO Ganador Management Solutions.

The training program is underpinned by government subsidies for eligible employees making it cost neutral for all small businesses to participate and at completion of the course the trainee will gain a nationally recognised Retail Certificate Level 3.

“Newsagents are undergoing tremendous change, one of the cornerstone strategies for dealing with change, is developing people and equipping them to add value at a higher level.” commented Graham Randall, Managing Director of newsXpress. “Whilst there are many training options out there, this particular approach is unique because it is specifically customised just like enterprise RTOs (Woolworths and other large retailers) but has been outsourced and separately funded by newsXpress to give small business (and their staff) access to the same opportunities as the big guns of retail. Additionally it is commercially relevant because of material customisation of the content, whilst meeting and exceeding the nationally accredited standards.”

This training program ensures the long term future of newsXpress staff members as they will have been trained on the newsXpress system. The benefits of the training will roll through the business from the staff member to the owner and the business itself.

The program is delivered as a ’blended solution’ which includes face-to-face workshops, in-store training and assessment and e-learning.

“The program is aimed at the staff employed in small businesses, often in rural areas, and lacking many opportunities for training and development.” said Ben Kay, newsXpress General Manager. “newsXpress feels it has a corporate social responsibility to support its members and their staff to access the right training that is relevant to the individual and the business. newsXpress is committed to this program and our staff are being trained to be able to formally facilitate the program”.

Employees working in newsXpress locations are already expressing interest in the new training on offer.

Our new newsXpress corporate store at Knox City in Victoria is drawing plenty of attention from others.

Newsagents, suppliers and others regularly visit to see the flexible shopfitting system from Interfit and other innovations we have delivered in this business.

Many visitors are taken with the innovative tables we have at the front of the business.  These are now the fourth generation of a newsXpress exclusive development we started over three years ago.  Having the right and flexible fixtures are vital to retail success.  These latest units can be seen working for books as well as Easter eggs and other Easter product.

newsXpress is committed to investing in the development of more useful and financially rewarding fixtures and fitting for newsXpress businesses.  We back this innovation with on the ground support in how fixtures can be best used.

The result of our work is excitement about the future not only for our group but for others who are taking a keen interest in what we are doing.

The photo was taken this morning at newsXpress Knox.

The front window is ablaze with colour at newsXpress Yarram (VIC) as they have entries for their easter colouring competition on display.  Click on the image to see the extent of the entries they have received – the entries stretch across three windows and easter is still more than a week away.  Engagement like this in a local campaign is terrific for the local community as well as newsXpress Yarram.

newsXpress has drawn five lucky customers at random from many entries submitted to determine the winners of iPhones which were offered as part of our Back to Work campaign.

Each lucky customer was thrilled when called with news of their win. We are playing the phonecalls with the winners on newsXpress radio.

We are grateful to Optus for their support of this campaign.

Our iPhone giveaway campaign was another way newsXpress was demonstrating its difference to our members and to our customers.

newsXpress radio broadcast calls to the winners in our Back To Work competition.  The bike and Toyota Yaris winners received the call on air and in newsXpress stores across the country we get to hear their excitement at being winners in this rich newsXpress exclusive promotion.

Back to Work worked on many fronts for newsXpress including showing how we can work together for a valuable national promotion and building our customer database.