New School paves the way for Master Chefs

New School paves the way for Master Chefs

A ground-breaking new venture is set to pave the way for scores of unemployed young people to enter the hospitality industry in Bournemouth, plugging a much-needed shortage of local chefs.

A new Chef School will launch on October 6, a partnership between South West Regional Assessment Centre (SWRAC) and Premier Inn Bournemouth, and promoted by the NCTA. Thirty new recruits will join a short, practical eight-week training course created by the SWRAC. The trainees will master their skills in the kitchens of Premier Inn, under the eagle eyes of SWRAC’s culinary team.

At the end of course, the trainee chefs will be employed by Premier Inn and other local hotels and restaurants. Each quarter, the School will recruit around 30 long-term unemployed people who demonstrate an interest in embarking on a culinary career. This will provide jobs for up to 120 people per year and resolve a long-standing industry problem.

With job creation and partnership working at the very heart of the NCTA, director Samantha Richardson applauded the new School: “Here is an example of a very real industry issue being tackled head-on, in time it could provide employment for hundreds of unemployed people. What is surprising is that it has not been done elsewhere before.

“Chefs are critical to the success of hotels and restaurants, offering enormous opportunities for these new recruits to rise to the very top of an exciting industry. It’s a short, practical course with the chance of a job at the end, the School deserves to be enormously successful,” she added.

Ed Pyke, Cluster General Manager for Premier Inn, commented: “Lack of chefs has been a perennial problem in Bournemouth and something I had been talking loudly about for some time.

“So I was thrilled when SWRAC suggested this new course, providing a pathway for unemployed people to embark on a career as a chef and solving an industry headache in one hit. The hospitality industry offers fantastic opportunities for career growth, and this new School will fast-track unemployed people straight into it.”

Nigel Reeve, Hospitality Tutor at South West Regional Assessment Centre added: “I am tremendously proud to have created this course in partnership with Premier Inn, it should become a great success.

“The eight-week course is immensely practical, providing kitchen skills that will prove an asset in any busy kitchen. Offering trainees a work placement at the end is a huge motivation, we hope this will just be the start of an initiative that could be taken nationwide.”

With job creation and partnership working at the very heart of the NCTA, director Samantha Richardson applauded the new School: “Here is an example of a very real industry issue being tackled head-on, in time it could provide employment for hundreds of unemployed people. What is surprising is that it has not been done elsewhere before.

“Chefs are critical to the success of hotels and restaurants, offering enormous opportunities for these new recruits to rise to the very top of an exciting industry. It’s a short, practical course with the chance of a job at the end, the School deserves to be enormously successful,” she added.

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For more information, please contact Sheron Crossman, NCTA Marketing and Communications Manager, sheron.crossman@coastaltourismacademy.co.uk, tel: 01202 962565. For more information on SWRAC, please contact bevgowman@swrac.co.uk