Twenty chefs are being sought for the Higher Apprenticeship for Chefs, which is part funded by the European Social Fund through the Welsh Government and delivered by People 1st Wales and award-winning learning provider Cambrian Training Company.

The pilot apprenticeship programme has been designed by a chef-led working group to meet industry needs and is due to start this September and will run until October 2014.

Businesses across Wales are being invited to nominate senior chefs, who have at least five years’ practical experience, to take part in the pilot trials, which will include specialist workshops, workplace visits and a novel event by way of final assessment.

The programme includes craft skills development, profitable and imaginative menu development, coaching and mentoring for individual and team needs and understanding butchery, fish and shellfish, fruit and vegetables.

“This is not only a unique, no-cost opportunity for a chef to enhance his or her craft skills, but there is also a strong focus on sharpening their commercial awareness,” explained project co-ordinator Scott Antony.

“Both aspects are designed to bring an early and tangible benefit to the bottom line of a business, which will be a key measure of the qualification’s worth.

“This higher level apprenticeship will benchmark the achievements of senior, craft-led chefs who have gained their skills and experience by whatever learning route they have chosen to travel. It will also complete the career ladder for chefs first taking the new BTEC Intermediate and Advanced Apprenticeships in Craft Cuisine.”

Among leading Welsh businesses supporting the scheme are the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Cardiff-based brewer and retailer SA Brain & Co, and Bryn Meadows Golf, Hotel & Spa Resort in Maesycwmmer, near Ystrad Mynach.

Anyone interested in signing up for the pilot, including individual chefs with employer support, is asked to contact project co-ordinator Scott Antony on 07771 570272 or [email protected].