Retail staff enjoy one of the on-the-hill training days

More than 500 retail staff have enjoyed days on the hills as part of a training scheme run by an outdoors gear manufacturer.

Berghaus, whose chairman Sir Chris Bonington is honorary president of the Outdoor Industries Association, also conducted 1,600 in-store training sessions.

The company said the hill training days gave 547 retail staff the opportunity to try out products and gain a deeper understanding of the brand.

Retailers of all sizes have been included in the scheme, which broke previous records for training in shops throughout the UK.

From early next year, Berghaus will also have WL Gore certified trainers on its team – a first for a UK brand – who will receive the same level of training as Gore’s own staff. The move coincides with the launch of Gore-Tex Active Shell and two-layer Gore-Tex Performance Shell fabrics in Berghaus clothing.

Mike Clark, Berghaus’s retail and product line manager said: “Offering strong, sustained support to customers is one of the key roles of Berghaus’s UK sales force.

“We have put together a great team of retail trainers who have a deep understanding of both the brand’s products and the retail environment, all of which is about to be further enhanced by their time with WL Gore.

“This allows us to deliver tailored and very relevant training to retail staff, allied to our continued significant investment in shop in shops and other in store furniture and point of sale material. Based on experiences this year, I believe that the whole package is extremely effective and look forward to expanding it further in 2011.”