NEWS EXTRA


DULUX ACADEMY TURNS THREE


Akzo Nobel’s famous training facility celebrated its third birthday last month, with visitors treated to taster sessions of the courses offered on site and a look at the future of the project. Fiona Garcia reports


A real jewel crown of


in the Akzo


Nobel’s UK operations, Dulux


the Academy opened its doors


three years ago with the aim of educating and supporting professional decorators and retailers; arming them with the tools they need to better understand colour, new techniques


and equipment


and, ultimately sell more paint. However, the project started life well before that, when Vickie Mather was tasked with heading up the development of the Academy in 2014. She jokes that it was “literally just a blank piece of paper” to begin with and she was given free rein to take it in the direction she wanted. There were some clear ambitions however, she explains. “One was to have an academy within 100 miles of decorator. We are currently operating out of 10 centres and have one in Wales opening imminently.” She adds: “And we also set out with a target


of having 10,000


professionals trained through the Academy. Well, we are really pleased to say that we have gone over 5,500 now and are well on our


way for the end of 2020 to hit that 10,000 milestone.” The Academy’s current home was


already on site at Akzo’s head office in Slough, being used as offices and meeting rooms. Vickie pitched for the building internally, explaining that, if the business wanted to create an academy where customers could come, “we needed a showcase”. She


was successful and the


building was completely revamped with the help of the Academy team. In fact, Vickie credits much of the success of the Academy to the “pretty awesome” team she built around her, comprising leading professional


decorators,


experts and Dulux colour director Marianne Shillingford.


“The team did it all,” she says. “Every bit of furniture you see in here has been picked by the team with Marianne’s help. They’re so practical... I could literally come in one day and say ‘that wall would look great if it was colour of the year’ and the next day it will be done.” The team is also responsible for the day-to-day running of the centre and teaching the huge array of available courses, which include:


understanding colour


Dulux Academy head Vickie Mather addresses guests celebrating the three-year


milestone at the flahsip facility in Slough


theory colour


training


and to


design, customers,


presenting craft


marbling, woodcare, wallpapering, application of water-borne paints, smart selling, painting with spray, and even first aid. “Most people are surprised that it’s not just about paint training here but we do the whole decorating spectrum, including wallpaper,” says Vickie. Bookings for craft courses, such as marbling, have risen 500% year on year at the Academy, as Dulux academy skills development consultant Matt Gray


explains


that the skills “offer a point of difference for decorators in a competitive marketplace”. Visitors to an open day celebrating the Academy’s three-year anniversary last month were lucky enough to see Matt demonstrate the process of marbling, showcasing the expertise required to create a marble finish using water-borne paints. Marianne Shillingford also


gave a taster of one of her colour masterclasses, which provide insight for trade professionals and retailers alike.


The list of courses available across


the 10 Academy centres is constantly evolving and the business tries to keep on top of trends to make sure it is offering training that fits with what is happening in the sector. “We watch the trends and see


10 DIY WEEK 12 APRIL 2019


what’s out there but we also have the luxury of a set up where we meet all of our customers face to face. We are talking to people and asking where the industry is going. “Most recently, we’ve launched a kitchen refurbishment course and we now offer advanced wallpaper courses. We try to be industry


leading, and the team is heading to a big interiors and painting and decorating show in Germany next week to see what else is on the continent that’s not in the UK.”


She continues: “The industry is moving forward quickly; products are changing, application methods are changing, equipment is changing. We work with leading suppliers, so we have the best and latest equipment that is out in the industry at the moment. For example, there’s a dust- free sanding machine we’ve had in here for the past two months and it’s not even launched in the UK yet.” A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to achieve the Dulux Academy that exists today, with a huge amount of research carried out in order to create the team’s vision of the perfect training facility. “We went to a lot of painting and decorating colleges,” says Vickie. “And I went to other academies


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