Budding chefs, front of house staff for restaurants and other supporting roles will soon benefit from a range of funded apprenticeships to help them secure employment in the West Midlands hospitality sector.
Foodservice company Compass has pledged £500,000 to boost hospitality and professional services courses as part of the West Midlands Apprenticeship Transfer Levy Fund. The company serves meals in locations including offices, schools, universities and hospitals.
The latest round of funding, which has been gifted to the West Midlands Combined Authority, will help people gain the skills needed to enter and progress within the hospitality sector and employers access to more talent.
The hospitality sector has been hit recently by skyrocketing energy costs, food inflation, high interest rates, a recruitment crisis and tepid customer demand on the back of the covid pandemic.
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Data from the authority suggests more than 3,880 job vacancies were advertised last month in the West Midlands county's hospitality sector and more than 9,000 across the wider region.
Set up in 2019, the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Fund allows large employers to transfer up to 25 per cent of their levy funds each year to SME organisations to pay for apprenticeships to be delivered.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: "Hospitality is something of a strong suit for our region.
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"Despite the challenging economic backdrop, there's still plenty of scope to provide training to the next generation of talented chefs, mixologists and restaurateurs.
"That's why it's great to see Compass supporting this mission by kindly transferring £500,000 towards our Apprenticeship Transfer Levy Fund.
"It's vital that we support our night-time economy and one way we can do that is by helping local talent to connect with opportunities on offer in hospitality.
"Together, we can work to ensure Birmingham and the wider West Midlands maintains its position as one of the 海角视频's most exciting food destinations."
Jonathan Foot, head of apprenticeships at Compass, added: "We are so pleased to be supporting the West Midlands Combined Authority, with this significant transfer of apprenticeship levy funding.
"As a large organisation, we have a responsibility to give back to the communities we operate in and, in the West Midlands, we want to be able to support SME organisations and local people.
"This will help our existing work in the area and enhance our plans to open Compass' skills hub in Edgbaston, due early next year."