N Brown has partnered with tech firm Decoded to train employees its organisation to use data and analytics.

Staff will be able to enrol on an 18-month programme to learn about technologies including machine learning and data analytics. It plans to use the technology throughout the business from optimising the customer journey to predicting consumer demand for a product or improving employee retention rates.

N Brown, which is in the process of converting from being a catalogue retailer to a digital-first business, is using the apprenticeship levy to fund the course. The levy has been criticised by many retailers, which say they cannot find a way to use it effectively and claim it is another form of taxation on the industry.

N Brown data science director Gareth Powell said: “Data is now ingrained in online retail and is a fundamental pillar for the future growth of N Brown. Decoded provide world-class data analytics training and I’m hugely excited by the partnership and the transformative effect it will have.”