Australian retail training provider First Impressions Resources (FIR) has stepped into one of the world’s fastest growing retail markets with the opening of the Global Retail Education and Training (GREAT) India campus in Hyderabad, India.
GREAT India’s Hyderabad campus is the first business school with a retail focus in India and FIR’s international subsidiary, the Australian Retail College (ARC), has partnered with GREAT India to provide technical expertise.
ARC will assist the school with program content, facilitating visits from expert teaching staff and exploring opportunities for graduates with retail employers in Australia.
ARC director Sue Freeman said GREAT India is aimed at exploring opportunities for increasing retail education in India’s rapidly growing retail sector.
“The retail sectors in India and Australia share a number of similarities and, as such, are facing some of the same challenges and opportunities. Both countries are experiencing increasing globalised competition, which brings with it a demand for talented staff with internationally relevant skills,” said Freeman.
She said that in both countries, retailers face challenges in attracting and retaining staff when competing with other high growth sectors for skilled recruits.
“The rapid growth in demand for staff in the sector and the subsequent skilling of these people to a globally competitive level will continue to be a real challenge for the retail sector in the future.”
ARC has spent several years working with retailers in India to determine the suitability of the Australian retail training programs for the Indian retail sector.
Hyderabad, sister city to Brisbane and Ipswich, is India’s fourth largest city and home to 6.8 million people. The Hyderabad campus will initially provide post graduate programs in retail entrepreneurship and retail management, with the first intake beginning their studies in September.
GREAT India CEO Sarat Tipirneni says one of the reasons the partnership between GREAT India and ARC works is the shared passion for equipping the rapidly growing retail sector with the skills needed to compete in an increasingly globalised retail economy.
“It’s rewarding to see that passion come to fruition with today’s opening, but we’re really looking forward to what’s still to come,” said Tipirneni.
“There is enormous potential for both countries to learn a lot from each other and for the retail sector in both countries to benefit from a closer working relationship.”
