The annual competition, which for the first time welcomes new sponsors BD Foods and ABP Food Group for this year’s challenge, offers an opportunity for full time hospitality and catering college students to showcase their talent while developing ‘real life’ catering skills.

Gary Maclean, chef lecturer from last year’s winning team, City of Glasgow College, said: “The benefits are unbelievable, with students building confidence and ambition while developing new skills, with a particular focus on teamwork.”

This year’s theme is ‘back to basics’, with Brakes asking teams to present stylish menus that embrace the modern trend for clean, well portioned and precisely executed cuisine.

Menus must be produced using a maximum of £8 worth of ingredients per cover – £32 in total – and should be balanced so that the three courses complement each other. Teams are also being encouraged to use local and regionally sourced ingredients to showcase the wide variety of food in the UK.

Shortlisted teams drawn from initial paper entries will be invited to compete in one of seven regional cook-offs. The winning team from each heat along with the overall best runner up will progress to the final at leading industry show, Hotelympia 2014.

Mark Irish, competition judge and head of development chefs at Brakes, said: “The calibre of entrants is always exceptional and last year we had more entries than ever before, so I’m anticipating great things for this year’s competition.

“Over the last few years the challenge has gone from strength to strength but we are constantly looking at ways to evolve and improve. The support and involvement of BD Foods and ABP Food Group will help us to do just that.”

This year’s winning team will receive a top prize of a five-day work experience week and an invitation to join and assist the Craft Guild of Chefs’ culinary team at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg. Both will be hosted by Craft Guild of Chefs chairman and competition judge Christopher Basten.

Neil Rowan, one of last year’s winning team, said: “The work experience week provided invaluable new experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my professional career. Being given the opportunity to work alongside such talented chefs in their professional kitchens has given me the motivation to follow my passion for cooking.”

The closing date for entries is December 12 2013. For more information about the competition, visit www.brakesstudentchef.co.uk. Updates from the competition can also be found on Twitter (@BrakesSCTC) and YouTube.