How the British Retail Consortium scaled leadership development across UK retail with Thrive

When great content becomes hard to navigate

The British Retail Consortium’s network is vast: From Boots to Burger King, they support thousands of retail businesses across dozens of professions and roles, with one shared need for great development. But as their content library grew, so did the complexity. Members were getting lost in a labyrinth of learning materials, and engagement was steadily slipping as a result. 

The “accidental manager” is a familiar figure in retail: someone brilliant on the shop floor who suddenly finds themselves leading a team without the tools to do it confidently. BRC’s mission is to change that — but their old platform couldn’t keep pace. BRC knew they needed to strip things back and find a partner who could help them do it properly.

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Turning learning into a seamless digital experience

Finding the right platform meant finding the right partner — and Thrive delivered both. BRC used the migration as a chance to ruthlessly re-evaluate their content, cutting materials from 112 pieces down to 59. What remained was sharper, and purpose-built around the real needs of retail professionals. The Summer School (running since 1923) brought its entire multimodal programme onto Thrive, transforming it into a seamless hybrid learning experience.

For BRC’s team, the impact was immediate. Support queries from learners dropped dramatically — what Kate Vukovanovic, BRC’s Digital Capability Manager, calls “the silence being deafening, in the best possible way.” No more “I can’t log in,” or “I can’t find it.” Learners simply joined and got on with it. That freed up BRC’s team to focus on what actually matters: reviewing content, acting on insights, and continuing to improve the programme year on year.

From content overload to meaningful engagement

The results speak for themselves. Completion rates climbed from 57% to 78% (that’s a 21% uplift) and unlike the usual pattern of peaks and dips, engagement held consistently throughout the programme. Around 50% of recorded webinars were rewatched by delegates after the fact, a sure sign that learners were genuinely invested rather than just ticking boxes. Sarah Hetherington, Head of Learning at Dreams and a Summer School coach, summed it up simply: “Transformational.”

BRC’s ambitions don’t stop there. Thrive now underpins all three of their core leadership programmes, including the newly launched Leadership Essentials — a free offer for entry-level managers that’s already proving the self-paced, community-supported model works. And later this year, they’ll be piloting Thrive Mentoring: Vicky’s vision of a cross-sector network of mentors helping retail professionals tackle new challenges and inspire change in their organisations. The next generation of retail leaders is in good hands — and in good company.

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