Sunderland businesses are being offered the opportunity to hear from a retail expert about gaining and retaining customers at a special training workshop this month.

As part of an on-going programme to support retail, hospitality and leisure organisations around the city, an afternoon of insider information is being planned to share the best ways of dealing with the ever-changing face of customer expectations.

The special session – which is being held at the University of Sunderland’s Hope Street Xchange building on 28 January – will be led by Karen Williamson of Delivering Differently, a North East based retail expert who has worked with numerous big high street names over her 30 year career.

The workshop, which is being offered as part of the Sunderland Skills and Inclusion Programme (SSIP) led by the University of Sunderland, will be run by Sunderland BID and is aimed at showcasing how to maximise the customer experience to create loyalty.

Attendees will also get the opportunity to hear about future city centre plans as part of the event and the option to sign up for a mystery shopping programme running from 17-28 February, where the businesses will be visited by an anonymous shopper during that period.

Everyone who participates will be given useful feedback and the business which scores the highest will receive a prize.

“Customer expectations are changing and how retailers create the best experience in their business will either keep the customers coming back time and again or they will lose them to competitors,” said Karen.

The workshop – which begins with registration at 3.30pm before the session starts at 4pm to 6pm – will focus on the key dates in the spring calendar and how businesses can most effectively capitalise on them.

Among the areas Karen will cover are how to understand customer service principles and how to adapt them to suit individual businesses, how to create an experience for customers – focussing on standards and service – and how to attract new customers.

Sharon Appleby, Chief Executive of Sunderland BID, said the workshop would be of huge value to any business which deals directly with the public.

“The time after the festive season can be challenging for many businesses so it’s vital that they plan ahead for the key dates in the calendar,” she said.

“Karen has a huge amount of experience and insight into retail across the board, so she is the perfect person to deliver meaningful and valuable information that can help businesses – regardless of the sectors they operate in – build towards success in 2025.”

Tim Pain, Director of Research and Innovation at the University of Sunderland, said:

“The University is committed to positively contributing to the social, economic and cultural development of the city and wider region and we are delivering a number of initiatives aimed at supporting the economic growth of Sunderland.

“Successful businesses are key to the ongoing regeneration of the city and it’s fantastic to work with Sunderland BID to develop this innovative pilot programme which will provide retail organisations with the opportunity to update skills or learn new ones.”

Anyone interested in attending can register at www.sunderlandbid.co.uk/retailworkshop

The workshop has been funded by Sunderland University thanks to support from the UKSPF.