Further Information
Regeneration
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Policies & Issues
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| REGENERATION |
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Retailers provide a vital community service, a focus for physical regeneration, and sustained investment in people and places through more than 321,000 retail outlets. By helping to create new markets, providing a focus for physical regeneration and implementing socially beneficial operating practices, the retail sector plays an increasingly vital role in the regeneration of towns and cities across Britain. Retailers can provide a gateway into employment giving socially excluded groups the chance of a living and working environment in which they can thrive.
As part of the retail sector's continuing commitment to the communities in which retailers operate, the BRC in conjunction with the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit (NRU) commissioned and published a report entitled "A good practice guide for businesses locating in deprived areas. The guide highlights examples of best practice by retailers in combating many of the problems associated with worklessness and deprivation. These include:
· working with public and community sector partners to increase job-readiness amongst potential recruits, help with their transition from welfare to work and overcome barriers to employment like childcare
· employing a diverse workforce that mirrors their customer base
· tailoring services that meet the needs of customers living in regeneration areas
· using imaginative marketing methods to reach excluded communities
· building relationships with potential public and voluntary sector customers through community projects and partnerships, leading to new business
· using local projects and involvement in the local community to develop staff and engender local pride
· introducing a flexible, family-friendly working culture through mentoring and training
· reappraising recruitment policy and job specifications to attract recruits from disadvantaged areas and guaranteeing jobs to candidates who complete their pre-recruitment training
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