The successful chefs were selected following cook-offs at Sheffield College (June 11th) and Le Cordon Bleu cookery school in London (June 24th).

They are: Andrew Ditchfield, Pastry Chef, House of Commons; Paul Foster, Head Chef, Mallory Court; Adam Handling, Head Chef, Restaurant Adam Handling at Caxton; Mark Kempson, Head Chef, Kitchen W8; Luciano Lucioli, Head Chef, Marks & Spencers Headquarters (Lusso - CH&Co); Lawrence McCarthy, Sous Chef, The Ledbury Restaurant; Martin Carabott, Sous Chef, The Royal Automobile Club and Larry Jayasekara, Sous Chef, Gordon Ramsay Holdings.

As well as competing in the National Chef of the Year final, they will also attend a Mentor Day at the Knorr Kitchen in Leatherhead on September 15th where they will be presented with a mystery basket of ingredients to be used in the final and given the opportunity to ask questions about the brief.

David Mulcahy, vice pPresident of the Craft Guild of Chefs and organiser of the competition said: “The fact that many so many chefs dedicate the time to enter National Chef of the Year, year after year, proves the difficulty of the competition and its importance in an ambitious chef’s career.

“These eight chefs have demonstrated a high level of technical skill and understanding of seasonality - key elements of this year’s brief. However, as in any competition, they will need to raise the bar further if they are to be successful in the final.”

National Chef of the Year is considered the toughest annual challenge for any British chef and winning the title has helped establish the careers of chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, David Everitt-Matthias, Mark Sargeant, Steve Love, Simon Hulstone, Hrishikesh Desai and last year’s winner Russell Bate-man.

The finals were judged by a panel of judges chaired by Clare Smyth, chef patron at the three Michelin starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.

She said: “This competition is tremendously stressful and a lot of effort goes into it. There's been some phenomenal cooking and some tremen-dously simple but delicious plates of food.

"It's great to see the same chefs coming back year after year, we are seeing people grow and that's phenomenal."