Retail Trust | The only charity that looks after the needs of three million people working in retail.

#RetailReady People underway with first Residential

The very first free #RetailReady People Residential for 16-25 year olds who are looking to breathe new life into empty shops in Brighton and Enfield took place this week, organised and facilitated by Retail Trust and vInspired.

The three day boot camp offered training and support from both charities as well as pop-up shop support from Dan Thompson, founder of the Empty Shops Network, who offered clear insight into pop-up shop creation, how to make pop-ups a reality in a changing high street with particular focus on how young people can contribute to the solutions for high vacancy rates in high streets and town centres.

Retail Trust Chief Executive Nigel J L Rothband shared his inspirational retail journey with the residential attendees, highlighting the benefits and scale of the retail industry, the range of skills it incorporates, as well as training and skills that retail roles can provide to the young volunteers.

The vInspired and Retail Trust teams focused on team building, marketing and pre-launch support for the volunteers in preparation for the pop-ups which are due to open in Brighton and Enfield in November.

A surprise pop-up shop was created for the volunteers to provide inspiration and ideas on what they could offer within their empty space to benefit the local communities. See photos in our gallery and on our Facebook page.

Both teams are already marketing their pop-ups for Brighton and Enfield. Follow Brighton’s pop-up @Make_Away and Enfield’s @Elsretailready for further updates and news. Watch this space!

Brighton’s #retailready team: Ashleigh Ward, Grant Killoran, Rabeen Omari, Amber Ayling, Sophie Roake, Amelia Dawson, Dan Zaver, Charlie Lockhart, Evie Martin, Esme Sarfas and Nicole Brant.

Enfield’s #retailready team: Ellen Louise Patmore, Jem Conlon, Michael Lo, Rashid Akim Ndaruvuge, Ryan Pierce Lawlor, David Pemberton, Ece Sertkaya, Peter Sherwin, Kessiena Ikoloh-Cole and Anderson Ronaldo Lizano.    

Big thank you to all of the volunteers, staff, and speakers involved!