Last night (30 August 2016) at world famous Café Spice Namaste, Apprentices from Umbrella Training received their apprenticeship certificates from award-winning and the 2014 BBC Food Personality of the Year Chef, Cyrus Todiwala, at a VIP Event.
Attended by some of the great and good of the industry, the 69 apprentices who have completed their 12 to 18-month apprenticeship programme in the last 4 months – from novice to expert – were recognised for their commitment to lifelong learning and the achievement of sustainable employment with employers including Lancaster London, Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill, Patty & Bun and Georgian House Hotel.
At the event, Todiwala shared his views on apprenticeships: “Apprenticeships are a vital ingredient for our industry; helping to attract talent, retain them and develop them to be the very best in our industry.”
Adele Oxberry, Managing Director at Umbrella Training added: “It fills us with great pride to see our learners graduating this evening. They joined us with little or no experience in the hospitality sector and leave us for great roles in fantastic businesses. While the vast majority of their success comes from their own commitment to the apprenticeship, it cannot be achieved without the strong support from their employer. Our sector is a wonderful place for an apprentice to learn skills and nurture their talents; we need to offer more of this to those who are looking for a career in service and so thank our employer partners for their continued focus on apprenticeships.”
As part of the framework of the apprenticeship leaners, who range in age, ability and background, achieve functional skills in Maths, English & ICT, Technical certificates (Food Safety for example) and a NVQ level 2 to level 5, plus learning about British Values and Employment Rights & Responsibilities. Umbrella works closely with employers to help nurture the apprentice ensuring they gain lifelong learning.
Jess Baker, an Umbrella Apprentice at Hampton Court Golf Club said: “I am so happy to have achieved my apprenticeship in Hospitality Supervision and Leadership at level 3 and thank you Umbrella Training for helping me at every step of the way, this apprenticeship has given me confidence to be a better hospitality professional and now I am looking forward to the next part of my career.”
Kitchen Inspirations
The event also launched Kitchen Inspirations, a series of short films where industry chefs cook and talk about the sector, apprenticeships and give valuable advice to aspiring chefs. In the first feature, Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL and Ben Purton from Lancaster London share their stories and serve two fantastic dishes – Beetroot marinated Scottish salmon by Ben Purton and LEELI KOLMI NI CURRY by Cyrus Todiwala.
