Colleges

• City of Glasgow College
• Southern Regional College
• University College Birmingham
• University of Derby
• Westminster Kingsway

Apprentices

• Dmitri Zihharko, Connect Catering
• Megan Baldock, Goldman Sachs
• Kathleen Davie, Upper Shirley High
• Jack Baldwin, The Bruce Arms
• Lily Stock, Boodles
• Drew Dawson, The Ned

With this year’s contest centred around ‘sustainable futures’, the national heats put contestants through their paces, with judges including HIT Training chef academy principal, Paul Mannering, and Adam Bateman, group operations and development chef at InterContinental Hotels.

For college teams, this involved a three-course vegetarian meal masterclass, which they then had to recreate with full service to eight guests plus competition judges.

Apprentices meanwhile had to produce four covers of their original vegetarian dish in 1.5 hours for judges.

Chair of judges and fellow of the Master Chefs of Great Britain, Mick Burke, commented: “Myself and fellow judges were astounded at the standard of food service during the national heats.

“Selecting just 12 finalists certainly wasn’t an easy task.

“I’m very much looking forward to seeing how they cope with our toughest trials yet, and can’t wait to see what they produce.

“If the standard so far is anything to go by, it’ll be worth the wait”.

Katya Simmons, managing director at Nestlé Professional UK&I, added: “It’s clear that sustainability will become even more of a key factor in the foodservice industry in coming years and lead to exciting new trends.

“Our latest research shows that the industry considers sustainable eating one of the most exciting opportunities for foodservice in the future.

“I have been particularly pleased to see the level of enthusiasm that all competitors have demonstrated towards this year’s theme.

“The results have been impressive and it goes to show what can be achieved when embracing a sustainable future.”