The company currently employs 4393 chefs, of which 1537 (35%) are female, but has committed to have female chefs form 50% of its workforce by 2020.

Compass is seeking to do more in a bid to attain gender equality in a male dominated industry through making an investment in learning and development for female chefs that currently work for the company and those who will be recruited.

The company will also be reviewing working practices, to identify areas where shift work and flexible working hours are able to be introduced and further enhanced opportunities for development from entry level through to senior roles.

Dennis Hogan, managing director for Compass Group UK & Ireland, said: “We are delighted to have launched a scheme that is actively looking to support female chefs with the right opportunities, development and training.

“The ‘Women in Food’ programme highlights our commitment to increasing the number of female chefs we employ in the business by a further 15%, ensuring by 2020 we have a 50/50 split of male and female chefs.

“We have worked hard to establish the reasons that are discouraging woman from becoming chefs or continuing their chef career and hope by recognising and understanding the issues, that through the development of the Women in Food programme, we are now able to break down these barriers.”

To launch the initiative, Compass hosted an event on April 19th in London with a variety of senior female chefs from within and outside of the company attending. Key speakers during the event included leading female chefs, Prue Leith, Sabrina Ghayour and Emily Roux.