Just like the BBC, Marks and Spencer in Regent Street, Swindon, is setting up its own training 'Academy'.
However, the High Street giant insists that its latest initiative is unlikely to mirror the Beeb's 'Fame Academy', in which students are drilled in the disciplines of celebrity-dom.
Rather, and more in keeping with its retail roots, the M&S Academy will concentrate on providing an in-house forum for management and skills training among its 80 stores across the South West.
According to Sarah Gregory, centre manager for the self-styled 'Retail Academy': "This has been a great boost for the Swindon store. We are proud that Marks and Spencer has chosen the town as the location for the Academy."
The opening of the regional training centre has also created six new jobs at the Swindon store, and it is hoped that the influx of up to 150 staff a day from around the region for training courses will have a knock-on effect on the local hotel economy.
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