ThirdForce plc has won a contract to deliver Food Safety, Literacy and Numeracy training using a highly innovative e-learning system, the ‘el-box’.  The Irish company will provide compliance training and workforce development direct to BP Retail  forecourt staff across the United Kingdom. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

BP Retail UK, BP’s forecourt and fuel business, operates over 270 company owned sites across the UK with a further 1,200 dealer sites. It employs around 4000 people.  

BP Retail UK’s managers are quick to satisfy their customers’ increasing demand for a wide variety of food and other products sold through forecourt stores: the recent introduction of M&S Simply Food inserts into the stores is just one example.  

With the broader product range however comes an increasingly costly and complex training requirement for BP Retail UK’s existing and new staff.  To date this training had been delivered off-site as BP Retail UK had no means of deploying e-learning directly on-site to 4000 staff at hundreds of forecourt sites throughout the UK.

ThirdForce plc is responding to this challenge by supplying BP Retail UK with a complete outsourced solution - delivered using the ThirdForce El-Box, a portable, touch-screen PC-tablet pre-loaded with dedicated e-learning training and requiring no IT skills. The ThirdForce solution also includes implementation, learner support, making it accessible to all levels of ability and crucially, allowing access to learning in almost any workplace environment.

The ThirdForce solution is ideal for widely distributed workforces and multi-site operations such as retail and hospitality outlets. It provides high quality, regulatory and compliance training which can be delivered fast to large numbers of people as they require it.  The El-Box will provide BP Retail UK with access to a work-based e-learning solution which includes Food Safety, Health and Safety, Numeracy, Literacy, NCPLH (for alcohol licence holders) plus a custom Fire Safety, LPG and fuel retailers Competent Persons course.

ThirdForce will additionally provide its AIMS Perform enterprise-wide training management system allowing BP Retail UK to manage, schedule, administer and report on all training of its staff. The AIMS suite also provides BP Retail UK with an instant training and compliance record for all staff, thus meeting the needs of Environmental Health, Licensing Officials and the Health & Safety Executive with easy access to evidence of training completion at a site or at regional level.

ThirdForce Chief Executive Officer, Brendan O'Sullivan commented: “The service we provide to BP Retail UK highlights the cost savings and effectiveness of mobile e-learning to solve distributed and disparate learning requirements.  We are delighted to be working closely with BP Retail UK to deliver this innovative solution”

“The ThirdForce solution will enable us to solve a complex learning requirement,” said John Buckton training manager at BP Retail UK. “This service by ThirdForce will enable us to reach all of our forecourt staff quickly and deliver the right training fast," he added.