TO ASSIST THE HOSPITALITY SECTOR RECRUITMENT CRISIS WITH APPLAUSE FROM HOSPITALITY AND FOOD PERSONALITIES.
Leiths School Of Food & Wine, founded by Prue Leith in the 70’s has launched The Leiths Hospitality Recovery Grant which aims to assist the UK hospitality sector through bridging the skills gap in professional kitchens with immediate effect, to help ease the recruitment crisis. The £750k grant fund will provide 100 free places and a further 1000 part-funded places on Leiths online courses with professional intent.
Chefs, hospitality groups, personalities and UKHospitality have all applauded Leiths including Henry Harris, Prue Leith, David Moore, JKS restaurant group & Theo Randall, Hawksmore and more. Comment below.
· The 100 free places will be awarded on a first come basis and 70/30 in favour of independent restaurants under the threshold of the apprenticeship levy, the same applies to the 1000 part-funded places.
· The grant is aimed at both restaurants and individuals looking to skill up – either those inside the sector in an unskilled role and candidates looking to enter into the sector - where they have a prospective employer.
· Students will be given the opportunity to attain Leiths qualifications with an assessment weekend at a discounted rate on completion of the online course.
Businesses and individuals, via their employer can apply as of today, via www.leithsonline.com/hospitality
The Leiths online training assists on two levels, those who are within the industry at present at a low/ unskilled level and those looking to embark on a career and have absolutely no experience at all. The training can be done full-time or part time, and can take as little as six weeks to complete enabling a confident impact in a professional kitchen. Each student is allocated a Leiths teacher as a mentor to guide and to learn from, receiving feedback all the way through.
Camilla Schneideman, MD Leiths comments “As a cookery school at the heart of the sector, we have been canvassing the opinions of chefs and restaurant groups to establish how we can best serve the industry we take great pride in training people for.The one tool that we have in our armoury which could reach a large number of people are the Leiths online courses. The courses can be taken anywhere as long as you have kitchen space and a smartphone, and can fit around shifts.”
Prue Leith- “The restaurant sector is again under fire, hard on the heels of the pandemic is the crippling skills shortage seeing many restaurants unable to open seven days a week. Leiths School of Food and Wine recovery grant, offering immediate online training to people outside of the sector and those within currently in unskilled roles, is set to make a difference and I am very proud the school I set up can respond at this time of this skills crisis”
Chris Todd, JKS Restaurants, Head of Recruitment- “The hospitality staff shortage is a complex social and political issue, affecting thousands of operators. As an industry we need to find multiple solutions to attract, train and overcome this burden. What Leiths have proposed heads a great deal in the right direction, providing much needed training support to operators and attracting new employees into the sector by supplying them with the skills needed to be successful within the industry.”
David Moore, Pied a Terre- “The Hospitality Industry has to get behind and support every initiative, this is a bright and clever technology response combined with Leiths heritage in training to assist with the solution to the multi-layered problem.”
Henry Harris, Chef and Beverage Director at Wright Brothers Ltd “The Leiths Hospitality Recovery Grant gives those who are genuinely interested to work in professional kitchens the opportunity to master the entry level skills that will make a pro kitchen more familiar. From a chef perspective, it brings trainees / juniors into kitchens who can progress more quickly because they have a sound foundation level skills set. Furthermore, for prospective candidates knowing first hand how Leiths teaches from a personal perspective, it provides an enjoyable way to train and learn.”
Theo Randal, Chef proprietor Theo Randall, InterContinental Hotel London Park Lane “I have been a supporter of Leiths cookery school for many years. The school is an excellent place to learn the cooking basics that are essential in a kitchen. We are going through a difficult time in hospitality for obvious reasons but the biggest shock is the recruitment crisis we are facing. This initiative is a great opportunity for students to get top class teaching at a place that probably wouldn’t have been considered an option. I have taught a few lessons over the years at Leiths and also have been fortunate enough to have employed some fantastic students. This is such a great opportunity for an aspiring chefs.”
Madeleine Geach, Hawksmoor- “2021 has thrown up some widely recognised recruitment challenges for hospitality caused partly by the pandemic and Brexit. Any way the industry can help and support one another in finding solutions to all this is to be applauded and Leith’s initiative is a really positive step in that direction.”
Kate Nicholls, CEO, UKHospitality- “Hospitality is in desperate need of a skills boost, particularly in kitchen roles, so we fully support and welcome this programme. UKHospitality is committed to collaborative solutions to the sector’s recruitment challenges, as demonstrated by our 12-point plan for employment. Leiths have taken great initiative in launching this programme, which will help upskill hundreds of chefs while simultaneously highlighting and addressing those challenges.”
The available courses are:
Essentials online https://www.leithsonline.com/hospitality
Chef skills online https://www.leithsonline.com/hospitality
Introduction to Patisserie https://www.leithsonline.com/hospitality
To apply please go to: www.leithsonline.com/hospitality or call Leiths: 020 8749 6400
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