The retail industry is changing and placing more demands on its employees. Women's Editor Christen Pears visits a training company that prepares staff for an increasingly challenging environment.

A JOB in retail used to be seen as an easy option - students doing Saturday jobs and mums filling in a couple of hours before picking the kids up from school.

Only those planning a career in management saw any long-term prospects in the sector. But the industry is transforming itself, and Jigsaw Training, based at the Gateshead MetroCentre, is running a series of initiatives that are changing people's perceptions and equipping them with the skills they need.

Set up in 1996 by Caroline England and Peter Hovells, the company was approached by the Learning and Skills Council to help carry out research. Based on the results, Jigsaw developed a range of schemes in Tyne and Wear to encourage more people into retail and to help those who work in the industry to develop their careers.

Caroline has worked in the retail industry since 1983, when she joined Bhs as a graduate trainee. She progressed to deputy manager at the chain's MetroCentre store, before leaving to join Bainbridge, now John Lewis, as staff trainer in 1989.

Peter has a background in industry and initially, Jigsaw was a commercial training organisation, working across a range of sectors, including the pharmaceutical and automotive industries. But the focus of the business has changed over the years, and Jigsaw now specialises in retail.

The company has a contract with JobCentre Plus to run the Ambition Retail programme - an intensive eight-week training scheme.

Caroline said: "The idea is not just to put people into a job, but one they are suited to and where there is career progression and a clear path for them to follow."

It also runs the Passport programme, a pilot scheme funded by the Learning and Skills Council that leads to an NVQ. The Government wants everyone working in retail to have an NVQ level two by 2010. The pilot has been successful on South Tyneside and the programme will be rolled out across the rest of the North-East from September.

One of the keys to Jigsaw's success is its close relationship with a consortium of employers at the MetroCentre, including House of Fraser, Marks & Spencer, Argos and Ikea. This enables Caroline and Peter to match learners to the right post, and to the right stores, who know their new employees will be trained to a high standard.

One of the issues Caroline hopes her company can help tackle is career progression for women in the industry. Traditionally, men have dominated the business at a senior level and women have done the low-level work.

She said: "It is the same in most industries, but it is more obvious in retail because of the way the job has been seen in the past.

"We have just been awarded European money through Ambition to fund level three NVQs for people who already have level two, and one of the targets is that a certain number of those people must be women. For us, that is not going to be a problem. We would probably be struggling in terms of men."

In the past, retail has appealed to women because of its flexibility. Many have juggled part-time jobs with looking after their families, but the industry is changing and employers' expectations are much higher. The number of managers has been reduced, increasing the responsibilities placed on other staff.

Peter said: "There are still employers who will take on somebody for a few hours a week, but that is happening less and less. They are looking for something different and, particularly with women, one of the things we have to do is give them confidence. A lot of them have been out of work because they have been bringing up a family and they see that as a barrier. They don't realise they already have skills such as organisation, patience and communication."

Jigsaw has about 160 learners on its courses, three-quarters of whom are women. Caroline hopes the initiatives run by her company will help more women to see retail as a serious career, with serious opportunities.