Available vocational education and training in the United Kingdom's retail sector were examined in an employee-centered study during which data were collected primarily from two sources: questionnaires completed by 1,974 from a random sample of approximately 6,000 British retail employees who were surveyed, and semistructured face-to-face interviews conducted with 115 retail shop workers by 15 interviewers. The questionnaires and interviews focused on the types and extent of available training, its perceived value, the relationship between training delivery and effectiveness, access of different groups to training, and shop workers' training aspirations. On average, the respondents received a total of 5.75 days of training with their current employer or approximately 1 day per year of service. Workers were generally positive about the training they received; however, two-thirds stated that their training had little or no effect on their job performance. Store managers' attitudes had a critical effect on the value workers gave to training. Women and part-time workers had less access to training than did males and full-time employees. Shop workers desired more training, including job-specific, occupational, and employee development training. (Information concerning the study methodology is appended. Contains 29 figures and 18 references.) (MN)