Eight chefs from across the train operator’s route – two from each region along the East Coast Main Line – have been carefully selected based on their passion for food, local food provenance, commitment to customer service and delivering mouth-watering dishes.
Claire Ansley, Customer Experience Director at LNER, said: “The Hero Chefs initiative was born from a desire to bring our dishes back in house with our onboard chefs taking the lead.
“We’re lucky to have so many people in our business who are as passionate about our customers and communities as they are about food, and who are keen to develop our menus and shape the on-board catering experience for our customers.
“We were thrilled when so many of our people put themselves forward for this exciting role and the opportunity to develop new skills.”
The chefs will be responsible for bringing the latest food trends and innovations to the on-board kitchen and creating speciality dishes for passengers.
Combining creative ideas with exceptional kitchen capability, the group will play an instrumental role in developing food offerings and the on-board menus.
They will also educate young people from local colleges and catering departments, including coaching up and coming talent for future industry roles.
To equip them in their new roles, Hero Chefs will receive continuous on-the-job training, provide each other with peer-to-peer support, menu development training, and be taught coaching and mentoring skills.
They will also have the opportunity to go out into LNER’s East Coast Main Line communities to learn about sourcing local food and ingredients.
All Hero Chefs are existing LNER employees and have worked in the customer experience team from between 10 weeks and 18 years.