British Footwear Association launches online Shoe School

The British Footwear Association (BFA) has just launched an online Shoe School, with an introductory training course in footwear construction for those who work in the footwear industry but have no formal training.

The BFA technical team have created a high quality animated and blended learning course that aims to rapidly upskill colleagues in the basics of footwear construction.

Learners can expect to complete the entire ‘Introduction to Footwear Construction’ course, which costs £125, within one and half to two hours and have one-month during which they can dip in and out of the learning, revisiting all modules within the time frame if needed.

The course, which is split into five modules, takes learners from ‘Feet, Footwear and Sizing’ through to ‘Footwear Construction’ and to the all-important subject of ‘Sustainability’.

BFA chief executive, Lucy Reece-Raybould, said: “Product knowledge and understanding has always been key to maximising sales opportunity and delivering great customer service.

“In developing this course BFA’s intention is to provide the sector with an e-learning programme which immediately provides staff with a solid understanding of the basics of footwear, so that they can be more effective from day one in your business. With knowledge comes confidence, which in turn leads to better productivity, higher sales and improved customer service.”

BFA chairman, Robert Perkins, commented: “We hope this excellent suite of training will assist footwear businesses prepare for the post Covid-19 landscape.

“The footwear sector is an important part of the British economy and spans retailing, e-commerce, wholesaling, sourcing, manufacturing and product creation. The sector faces many challenges and unknowns but investment in our people’s knowledge of the shoes they design, manufacture and sell has to be key to any future success.”

Leading this project on behalf of BFA, Jayne West, added: “This learning suite has been designed with the young professional in mind. It is flexible, attractive learning that explains the basics of what is a very complicated subject.

“It has been created to make these complex concepts as straightforward as possible. Businesses will find that it’s not only those that touch product that will benefit. Those in office-based functions, perhaps new to footwear, will find this content invaluable by way of background information, and understanding of the journey from design to customer.”