Compass Group's Academy celebrates Apprenticeship Week

Hospitality apprentices from Compass Group's Academy Apprenticeship programme have been celebrating Apprenticeship Week with a kitchen demonstration event at Westminster Kingsway College (WKC).

The event at the college was hosted by Andrew Aston, executive group chef, Restaurant Associates (part of the Compass Group) who demonstrated his culinary expertise and challenged the Apprentices to participate in a 'cook off' competition.

Andrew is a former Acorn Award winner and works with both the Junior Chefs Academy and the hospitality education charity, Springboard to develop young talent.

Jamie Cox is working at Quadrant UK while training through the Academy at Compass. He said: "I am really enjoying my Apprenticeship and it's great to learn new skills and then put them into practice. You are training continually and earning a salary at the same time.

"I have enjoyed visiting the different aspects of the Compass Group business and learning about local produce. It's great to exchange ideas with other Apprentices from all over the company."

Compass Group qualifications manager, Jane Leeming has been working with WKC for about two years to provide a range of training including the Academy Apprenticeship programme, NVQ training and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages).

She said: "The Academy Apprenticeship in particular brings together colleagues from across the company which increases the cooperation between different teams.

"We want to be the employer of choice for all of our colleagues and their training helps them to learn and grow with the company. As an employer, the benefits of the Apprenticeship programmes are that people are coming straight into the workplace with the new skills that they are learning so they are able to put these skills into practice."

As part of their Apprenticeship training, the Apprentices are working towards their NVQ Level 2 in Food and Drink Service followed by their NVQ Level 3 in Hospitality Supervision.

Apprenticeship Week 2009 is organised by the Learning and Skills Council to call on employers and business leaders to offer more opportunities to young people through Apprenticeship programmes such as The Academy Apprenticeship offered by Compass Group.

It is an opportunity to celebrate and recognise the essential role that Apprenticeships are playing in today's business world, ensuring that the workforce has the skills it needs in order to remain competitive, even in difficult economic circumstances.

There are a number of different Apprenticeship programmes that are offered by Westminster Kingsway College and Employer Training Solutions both in College and in the workplace which provide a structured training programme matched to the needs of employers and to learners on the Apprenticeship programmes.

The Apprenticeships Week ran from 23rd-27th.

Words: Maria Bracken

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