JD Wetherspoon has joined forces with the Business School at Nottingham Trent University to offer its staff the opportunity to study for an Advanced Diploma in Leisure Retail Management (Licensed Retail).
The diploma course, the first of its kind in the UK, is open to all area managers and pub managers who wish to develop their people and business skills and gain an industry-recognised qualification.
It builds on the Wetherspoon management development programme and combines it with an assessment process designed in conjunction with the university.
Wetherspoon personnel and training director Su Beacham-Cacioppo said: " Our existing management programme comprises a series of courses delivered at regional training centres and a number of distance-learning self-study modules.
"It focuses on the specialised needs of both the company and the pub sector in general.
"The Advanced Diploma programme builds on this, adding roughly half the third year of a degree level course in hospitality management and introducing students to a range of hospitality operations and their management.
"The aim is to develop a manager's technical, leadership and business skills necessary for successful pub management and to provide the basis for further management development.
"The Business School at Nottingham Trent University has developed a particular expertise in the management needs of licensed retail organisations and we believe it is an excellent partner for Wetherspoon."
The Diploma course takes between 18 and 24 months to complete.
The courses include leadership and motivation, profitable drinks retailing, financial awareness, business development and unlocking people potential.