Bespoke solutions for every training gap  

by James Spillane, BMF Training and Development Manager
5 March 2018


James SpillaneMany merchants are currently setting their budgets for the new financial year, and should have a separate line item for training within this.  While medium and large organisations automatically invest 2-5% of salary costs into their training budgets, smaller organisations may well begin the process by assessing the training needs of their business during the coming year.  

Identifying and focusing on the real issues and actual needs of the business and its employees will help them to allocate an appropriate training budget. Working with the BMF will ensure that this budget is put to good use, developing the right skills to improve productivity and performance.  

The BMF not only offers over 70 different industry-specific courses, our Regional Managers will be happy to help you undertake a Training Needs Analysis specific to your business.  They can also work with you to create your own bespoke programmes from the wide range of courses available.  

Depending on your particular needs, this “pick and mix” bespoke service can be used to create develop programmes ranging from basic induction, through graduate development to branch manager development. 

For example, a branch manager development programme may include elements such as:
  • Financial Principles of Merchanting – incorporating Finance for Non-Finance Managers, Margin Development and Managing and Controlling Stock courses
  • Personal Effectiveness – combining Excelling in Customer Service, Effective Time Management, Excellence in Business Writing and Presentation Skills
  • Leadership – bringing together Performance Management and Staff Engagement and Retention courses
  • As well as other key areas, for example Transport for Non-Transport Managers.  

These bespoke programmes will usually be combinations of the BMF’s one, two, three of four day courses. In addition, they give merchants the opportunity to represent the culture of their company within the training, and give priority to agreed topics. Courses can either be run at the merchant’s own premises or at a venue of their choice.  

For those who want a more thorough grounding in management skills and advanced leadership development training to equip them for further progression in their merchanting career, there is also the BMF Diploma in Merchanting, a two-year part-time course combining self-study modules and regular group workshops.

Not all BMF courses are aimed at those on the management track.  Many are highly practical, such as Measuring Building Quantities, Driver CPC Training, Kitchen and Bathroom Design, and Search Engine Optimisation. 

The complete range of BMF training courses can be found here.  For simplicity the different categories of training are divided into eight sections: Management Development, Leadership, Sales, Induction & Operations, Apprenticeships, Product Knowledge, Transport and Specialist. 

The Prospectus also includes a Training Roadmap, to show how various courses lead on from another, and how employees may use them to develop individual skills, as well as to help them progress up their career ladder. Using this in combination with a free Training Needs Analysis from their BMF Regional Manager will help merchants accurately determine their company’s current training needs, and identify the best means of delivery in the most cost efficient way.  

To find out more about any aspect of BMF training, please contact me at [email protected] or on 02456 854980. Or contact your BMF Regional Manager direct to book a Training Needs Analysis.  

BMF training ranges from formal Apprenticeships and, with leading British universities, sector-specific Diplomas, Degrees and a Masters Degrees in Merchant Leadership and Strategy, to on-line product knowledge and other specialist skills training.


This article first appeared in the February 2018 edition of Professional Builders' Merchant (PBM)