BRC Leadership Essentials
Helping early-career leaders build the confidence and the fundamentals to lead well. It is free, modular and built by the industry for the realities of the shop floor and support functions.
Built for people stepping up
Retail Leadership Essentials is for people stepping into leadership for the first time, and for those already leading who want to go back to basics and build their confidence.
It's a good fit if you:
- Lead a small team or run a specific area within a store or support function
- Are new to leading people and want a confident, practical start
- Have been leading for a while and want a refresher on the fundamentals
- Want to develop core leadership skills without needing any prior training
Typical roles: Advanced sales assistants, team leaders, supervisors, HR and finance officers, and assistant store managers.
What you'll walk away with
The core leadership skills that hold up under pressure
A clearer understanding of how retail actually works beyond your own area
More self-awareness, so you lead as yourself rather than a copy of someone else
Practical tools you can use in your next shift, not just in theory
What you'll cover
Week 1 – The Fundamentals of Retail
Explore the UK retail landscape, key KPIs, and your organisation’s core values. Learn strategies to build lasting customer loyalty and develop a compelling competitive value proposition.
Week 2 – The Foundations of Good Leadership
Understand the differences between leadership and management, nurture authentic leadership and emotional intelligence, and apply situational leadership and effective delegation. Cultivate empathy within retail and prioritise wellbeing for yourself and your team.
Week 3 – Communicating and Influencing as a Leader
Advance your communication skills by tailoring messages, selecting appropriate channels, and using storytelling to inspire others. Build trust, extend your influence, and adapt your style to connect with varied audiences.
Week 4 – People Management Basics
Enhance your team leadership by using the GROW coaching model, delivering impactful feedback, and mastering task prioritisation. Lead effective briefings, excel in performance management, and refine your delegation abilities.
Week 5 – Problem Solving & Decision Making
Improve your decision-making by following a structured problem-solving cycle. Learn to use data for insights, manage uncertainty and risk, embed evaluation processes, and understand the impact of AI and generational leadership.
Real Stories, Real Impact
The programme gave me practical tools to lead my team more effectively — working through different leadership models and applying them through hands-on exercises made the learning stick. The combination of independent study and action learning calls was a great way to consolidate understanding and share best practice with peers.
A really valuable experience. Connecting with other retailers, sharing challenges and hearing different perspectives was incredibly useful — and the mix of practical retail examples and leadership content made it directly relevant to my role. It was great to step back from day-to-day operations and reflect on how we lead and run our stores.
If you want to grow as a leader, this is where you start. The programme challenges you to step outside your comfort zone, tap into the knowledge in the room, and engage fully — because you genuinely get out what you put in. New ideas, new opportunities, new perspective.
A genuinely useful programme — a wide range of perspectives, strong networking, and models that really made you reflect. The hands-on activities make it essential for anyone serious about developing their leadership.
Onboarding: 26/08/2026
Launch: 02/09/2026
Onboarding: 07/10/2026
Launch: 13/10/2026
Onboarding: 11/01/2027
Launch: 20/01/2027
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Launch: 17/03/2027
Onboarding: 05/05/2027
Launch: 12/05/2027
Onboarding: 23/06/2027
Launch: 30/06/2027
Onboarding: 25/08/2027
Launch: 01/09/2027
Fully booked for now. Spaces do become available through drop-outs and reschedules, so join the waitlist to be first in line.
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Not a BRC Member?
The BRC is the go-to trade association for British retail, representing over 200 of the UK's leading retailers.
While this free retail leadership programme is exclusive to BRC Members, our flagship retail training programmes — including the BRC Leaders Summer School and the BRC Retail Masters — are open to all retail professionals.
Not sure if your organisation is a member? Head over to our membership page and to check.
Start your team's leadership journey
Enrol your team now and give your early-career leaders a confident, practical start.