Celebrating National Opportunity Day
Granby is proud to recognise, celebrate and raise awareness about National Opportunity Day, which takes place on 7th August 2025. As an employee-owned business, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We place a significant focus on supporting them, keeping them safe, and helping them to progress.
Granby is committed to supporting our local community by offering a range of roles within the company. Some of these can include apprenticeships, internships and work experience. Read more about our youth opportunities here.
In addition to the above, we also provide a range of training opportunities through the Granby Academy.
What is the Granby Academy?
The Granby Academy is our in-house training facility. Through the academy, our team members can gain new skills and qualifications recognised by professional bodies.
Here are just a few of the qualifications our team has access to.
- Excel courses
- ACAS Manager Training
- Warehouse manager CPC qualification
- Procurement course
- Mental health training
- Vistage
- Fire Marshal Training
- AIA: How to Train Your Inner Critic
- Six Sigma training course
We are proud to offer a range of courses that benefit the team both personally and professionally.
Our impact
We are proud to share that over 80% of our team have now benefited from the Granby Academy.
In addition to promoting the academy, we also support team members to seek learning opportunities through other educational settings, including Blackburn College, a partner of Granby. We have had 16 excellent employees enrol at the college to gain new qualifications.
Not only does this highlight Granby’s commitment to its people, but it also demonstrates the passion and drive of our team to learn new skills and develop themselves.
Other statistics from our findings
- 3 new apprentices recruited
- 1 apprentice obtained a promotion
- 5 employees attained formal qualifications
- 20 training courses successfully rolled out
- 11 Health Champions across the business
- 1 Mental Health First Aider in the team
In addition to the many courses provided through the Granby Academy, we also offer a range of external opportunities, including the following.
- Head of IT’s AI course, funded by Blackburn with Darwen’s modern workplace program
- Head of Warehouse and Site Services’ Skills Bootcamp, funded by the Department for Education
- Warehouse Manager’s Enrollment in Warehouse Manager CPC, developed by the UKWA
- Google HQ Visit, creating fearless teams to enhance productivity
Through Granby Academy, our courses are designed to do more than build skills; they empower our people to be agile, explore new ideas and grow with confidence. By creating a learning environment that encourages collaboration, critical thinking and solution-focused problem-solving, we’re helping our team stay responsive to change and committed to continuous improvement. It’s about fostering a mindset that supports each other, prioritises wellbeing, and drives meaningful outcomes, both for our people and our clients.
Why do we promote the Granby Academy?
At Granby, we recognise the importance of having a happy, healthy and motivated team. One of the ways that we achieve this is by offering new development opportunities to our team.
Having a team that feels empowered allows us to deliver the best possible services to our clients. Through continuous development, we can ensure that our team remains ahead of trends and feels confident in everything they do.
Our team is curious, which stands out as one of our core values. They are motivated to improve their work and promote lifelong learning.
Granby recognises that not everyone has the same education when growing up, which is one of the key reasons why we provide the academy. Having this in place means that everyone can access training courses to help them progress throughout their careers.
Successful case studies from our team
Kayleigh Scott – Alliance of Independent Agencies: Excellence in Account Direction
Overview
An intensive face-to-face training course aimed at Senior Account Manager/Junior Account Director/Account Director level, which focuses on developing and enhancing both the skills and confidence required as an Account Director in three key areas:
- Personal management and development
- Team management and development
- Client management and development
Sessions:
- Session 1 Management of Time
- Session 2 Management of Teams
- Session 3 Development of Teams
- Session 4 Management of Clients
Here’s what Kayleigh had to say about her training.
“The Granby Academy has been hugely valuable in supporting my professional growth through a wide range of focused courses. These have covered essential areas such as leadership, team building, health and safety, and client development, each contributing to the enhancement of my skills and confidence. The training has helped me navigate challenging conversations, better understand different working styles, and identify growth opportunities more proactively.
One standout course for me was Excellence in Account Direction. Since attending, I’ve taken a more strategic approach to client account management, shifting my focus beyond day-to-day delivery to long-term value creation. The course provided practical tools for maintaining high service levels while effectively managing internal priorities and resources.
Overall, the Granby Academy has helped sharpen my commercial thinking and significantly strengthened my ability to lead client relationships with clarity, confidence, and impact.”
Our awards
As a result of our dedication and commitment to developing our people, we have been shortlisted for many prestigious awards, including the following.
- Investors in People – Learning and Development (up to 1,000 employees)
- Investors in People – HR person of the year
- The Freshies Charity Business Awards – Most Treasured Team Award
- Red Rose Awards – Employer of the Year
- Red Rose Awards – Commitment to Skills
We are incredibly proud to have been recognised in these award categories, as well as many others related to logistics, contract packing and fulfilment.
Granby is committed to supporting our team both personally and professionally. We have received great feedback from the team and continue to identify new learning opportunities. Find out more about the Granby Academy here.