Kingfisher sets new apprenticeship target for B&Q and Screwfix

The home improvement group has announced its ambition to have more than 20,000 employees complete further learning programmes within the next six years as part of a new learning target. 

The retailer completed its current learning programme two years early, with employees completing more than 6.6 million ‘skills for life’ learning hours since 2019/20, ahead of its target of 5 million hours by 2025. 

Kingfisher said the new ambition “builds upon its longstanding commitment to investing in skills, training and development for its people, supporting every colleague to reach their potential”.

Over 4,000 colleagues took part in an apprenticeship or traineeship last year, covering a variety of specialisms including management training, corporate responsibility and women in leadership courses. 

Kingfisher chief people officer Kate Seljeflot said: “We strongly believe in supporting all our colleagues to develop their skills and reach their full potential. Investing in talent and building our skills base, particularly in growing priorities like digital and data, will be critical to our future success.

“Our new target underlines our group-wide commitment to empowering our colleagues with new skills, developing future talent and creating inclusive opportunities for young people to enter the workplace.”