£500,000 boost to support apprenticeships in hospitality in West Midlands
Budding chefs and restaurant staff are set to benefit from a range of funded apprenticeships to help them land jobs and progress in theregion's hospitality sector.
It comes as Compass Group UK & Ireland provided £500,000 to boost hospitality and professional services courses as part of the West Midlands Apprenticeship Transfer Levy Fund.
The funding to the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) will help people gain the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to enter and progress within the hospitality sector and give businesses access to more emerging talent – a vital step in levelling up the region.
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.
Despite the challenges, data from the WMCA shows more than 3,880 job vacancies advertised last month in the metropolitan West Midlands hospitality sector and more than 9,000 across the wider region.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and WMCA Chair, said: “Hospitality is something of a strong suit for our region. 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.
“I would encourage employers right across our region to continue to contribute to our Levy Fund and recruit apprentices in the months and years ahead. Together, we can work to ensure Birmingham and the wider West Midlands maintains its position as one of the UK’s most exciting food destinations.”
Set up in March 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 the Apprenticeship Standards to be delivered.
The region’s hospitality taskforce which includes leading hospitality names like Dishoom, Purnell’s, Aston Villa FC, and Malmaison Hotels, is continuing to lobby government for more targeted support and help to bring new people into the sector.
Jonathan Foot, Head of Apprenticeships and Early Careers at Compass Group UK & Ireland said the company was “committed to investing in and developing talent”.
He said: “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’ Regional Community Skills & Learning Hub in Edgbaston, which is due to open early next year.”
