If you’re interested in a career in retail there’s no better place to start than Asda.

That’s why we’ve launched a ‘young retailer programme’ to help 60,000 people aged 24 or under get a job in retail. And you’re never too young to start thinking about it.

We’re offering 15,000 work experience placements for 14 to 16-year-olds to show them the sorts of careers that retail can offer. You won’t just be making the tea or sweeping up – you’ll get the chance to see exactly how a supermarket works and gain an idea of the type of careers you might be interested in. If you’re at school this will look great on your National Record of Achievement.

We’re also offering 15,000 apprenticeships for existing Asda colleagues. The 12-week apprenticeship will be assessed by Protocol, an external learning provider and will initially give eligible colleagues in Yorkshire, the West Midlands and the North East a chance to gain a Level 2 Apprenticeship in Retail Skills – equivalent to five good GCSEs. It is hoped this can be rolled out to the rest of the country by the end of the year.

In addition, we’ll be recruiting 22,000 people this year to fill vacancies and creating 6,000 new jobs through opening new stores. Every new starter will receive City and Guilds training.

For more information or to register for the programme go to www.asdayoungpeople.co.uk

Posted by Kevin on 10 March 2010, 15:18

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Our George brand director, Fiona Lambert, answered questions from customers in a live Q&A on Your Asda – on the same day she launched our 100-day guarantee on all George clothing.

Fiona answered questions on everything from bra sizes to how to get into fashion design; our clothing range for teenage boys, adult fancy dress – and even her own wardrobe!

She ended by saying “Thanks for all your questions – it’s been really interesting. There’s been some great ideas and your feedback is always appreciated.” You can read the full transcript here.

Posted by Trina on 10 March 2010, 14:29

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We’ve teamed up with SportsAid to support hundreds of talented young athletes across the country – and this year for the first time you’ll be able to follow their progress through their own personal blogs on our new Asda Athletes website.

Each of our stores and depots is linked with a local young athlete who has been nominated by our partner charity SportsAid as showing outstanding potential in their particular sport. That means we’ll be supporting 367 individual athletes across a range of sports over the next year.

Many of the teenage athletes are studying for their GCSEs and A-Levels at the same time as training to become world class champions. And most of them have to pay for their kit, training, and travel expenses out of their own pocket.

In a video message to the athletes, our chief exec Andy Bond says it’s this early stage of an athlete’s career that can prove crucial and is when they need the most support. That’s why we’re giving each of them a grant towards their kit and training expenses.

more Posted by Trina on 10 March 2010, 13:01

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We’re so confident in the quality of our George clothing that from today we’re offering a 100-day ‘no quibble’ guarantee on all our garments.

We’re the only retailer to offer such a generous returns policy and we’ve invested £40 million over the past 18 months on improving the quality and durability of our ranges.

For example we now fit all our clothes on our in-house models three times to ensure consistency of fit. We make sure buttons and sequins are sewn on securely and we’ve worked with our suppliers to develop durable fabrics that will wash again and again without losing their colour or shape.

more Posted by Trina on 08 March 2010, 07:07

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Summer might still seem a long way off but at George we’ve been busy getting our summer range together – and this is the first chance to take a look.

Here George’s brand director Fiona Lambert tells us about some of the key trends coming up including mixing ethnic prints together, catwalk florals and a new way of wearing leggings.

There’s also a World Cup-inspired dress in red, white and blue! And we’ve also got a great range of swimwear to suit all shapes – including separates at just £2 each.

more Posted by Trina on 05 March 2010, 10:36

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