17th Nov 2008 - 00:00
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The second year of pupils to have completed BaxterStorey's Chef Academy, are celebrating their success in finishing a course that has been hailed as the industry's Training Programme of the Year by the British Hospitality Association.
21 Chefs from BaxterStorey have completed the course and participants varied from those in the earliest stages of their career to head chefs with extensive experience. The latter have completed a Foundation Degree in International Culinary Arts through the company's Chef Academy programme. Graham Eveleigh, Training & Development Director at BaxterStorey explained more about the course: "Ours is a entrepreneurial business and we want our chefs use this momentum and be BaxterStorey's food entrepreneurs. To achieve this they need to be confident and skilled in managing a kitchen, be innovative with menu creation and constantly deliver at the highest levels that will grow the demand for their service." Eveleigh explained that the programme has been developed to inject these skills and to nurture the catering industry's next generation of leaders. It has been structured to provide career long development and ensures that as they complete their training, chefs quickly put learning into practice. He added: "The Chef Academy is proving to be a business wide motivator. As well as helping us to identify future leaders, it has inspired non-kitchen staff to train as chefs and reinvigorated energy and passion within the existing brigade. The enthusiasm of our staff who are also course trainers as well as those who completed the course has helped to engender a greater food culture across our entire organisation." In 2008-2009 the company plans to double its Chef Academy training investment to an annual minimum of £60,000 and course participants have grown by over 100% to 47.