One Stop has made its store staff e-learning programme available to its 165 franchisees – seven years after originally launching the training in company-owned stores.

The free training programme has been “re-engineered” to suit staff in franchise outlets to get to grips with key issues such as staff retention, customer service, promoting repeat visits, and building a more knowledgeable and efficient workforce.

The aim of the training is to ensure that franchisees and their store teams are compliant with trading standards and UK retail legislation.

The web-based training tool can be accessed through franchisees’ back-office system or on a personal computer.

It provides interactive video lessons to ensure store are trading legally. Staff receive the relevant documents to show they have undergone the required training.

The first six lessons include Customer Care, Age Restricted Products, Security, Credit Card Machines and Health & Safety. Other lessons can be accessed to suit different job roles.

John Miller (pictured), head of operations at One Stop, said: “We feel it’s a great way to encourage discussion between the franchisee and their staff, to discuss any learning points that need raising and how they progress. Its more human to have a franchisee discuss things that they may have got wrong rather than just saying they’ve failed.”

Miller said individual franchise store owners had their own training modules but the e-learning package had been introduced to ensure consistency and quality of the One Stop brand and to make sure they were completely safe and legal.

“It fits in with our core purpose to ensure our customers get the best possible service,” he said.

The basic introductory lessons take two to three hours and the more advanced ones slightly longer.

Miller said they could all be undertaken in “bitesize” pieces. “It’s accessible internally and externally so they can dip in and out so new learners have flexibility.”

Franchisee Aman Uppal, of One Stop Mount Nod, Coventry, said: “The tool is very easy to use and will help with their job development and motivation.

“We now have the assurance that our staff are legally safe and compliant and by having training records for every staff member, I can prove that I have due diligence in place if the authorities ever approach me.”

One Stop, a subsidiary of Tesco, originally piloted the franchise operation in March 2013.