Two members of staff at City of Glasgow College are among those shortlisted in the Catering in Scotland Excellence Awards to be held at the end of this month.
Gary MacLean and Gordon McIntyre, who specialise respectively in cookery and events management, have been nominated for the Hospitality Educator Award, sponsored by Entier, in the CIS Awards, the winners of which will be announced at a ceremony at the Hilton Glasgow hotel on May 26.
Gordon McIntyre, Curriculum Head of Events at City of Glasgow College, said: “It is a real privilege and honour to be shortlisted. There are so many amazing hospitality educators in Scotland, so to be among the top three is a great achievement. Although it’s brilliant to be personally recognised, I am a bit embarrassed since we are in this job for the students’ achievements as opposed to our own.
“Being nominated is something that I look upon as a team achievement, since the successes I have benefited from are often team projects. I am the just the leader of a fantastic group of people who support students to gain a successful position in industry.”
Gary Maclean and Mikaela WrightAt the 2015 Craft Guild of Chefs awards, City of Glasgow College senior lecturer Gary MacLean was named UK Lecturer of the Year after leading a student team to victory in a canapé competition at Buckingham Palace. After impressing a judging panel including HRH The Countess of Wessex and royal chef Mark Flanagan, the team, led by Gary, went on to prepare finger food for esteemed guests at St James’s Palace to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Craft Guild of Chefs.
Gary MacLean said: “I feel privileged and humbled to have been nominated. Scottish culinary education has some amazing talented people and to be nominated for a second time is unbelievable. I am also very happy for City of Glasgow College that, for the second year running, we have two out of three nominees in this category. It’s been another fantastic year and these nominations are a reflection on the whole team at the college.”
In the running for the CIS Young Chef Award, sponsored by Brakes Scotland, is City of Glasgow College graduate Mikaela Wright, a former Patisserie student who last year formed part of Team UK at the WorldSkills 2015 finals in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The 20-year-old competed alongside entrants from 59 different countries in front of 250,000 spectators and emerged with a Medallion of Excellence. City of Glasgow College is the No.1 college in Worldskills UK, having performed best of all institutions at The Skills Show in Birmingham in November 2015.