David McKown, chair of the Education and Training Committee, commented: “It was fantastic to see delegates from across the UK coming together for this milestone summit, the attendance exceeded our expectations and this sets up the sector for a great future.”

The summit started with a dinner in The Silver Plate Restaurant, which won the accredited restaurant of the year 2024. In a speech Chris Galvin said: “Industry must stop blaming colleges and education, and start to understand their challenges.”

The following day, the Craft Guild of Chefs College and Training Accreditation programme was outlined and a number of new colleges are now seeking to make an application. Miranda Quantrill outlined the operations at training restaurants within Westminster Capital City College Group and Andy Gabbitas also explained how students are integrated into the Silver Plate Restaurant.

Other key business sessions included an inspirational speech on front of house service by Peter Avis, who asked educators to focus on developing confidence within young people and not get too focused on out of date service skills.

The development of chef careers was a session that resonated with the delegates and this was delivered by Andy Mackenzie from the Exclusive Collection of Hotels. He outlined the recruitment and development programme and they are certainly leading the way in attracting new talent.

A session on the future of qualifications was presented by Jason Benn from City and Guilds. An interesting session was presented by Professor Peter Jones, Professor David Foskett and Neil Rippington on ‘Building Excellence in Hospitality Education’. Success in hospitality education requires a commitment to authenticity in both knowledge development and cultural expression.

An industry panel featuring Angela Maher, chief executive from the Savoy Educational Trust; Vita Whitaker, owner at WhitCo; Steve Hobbs, director of Grande Cuisine and Chris Galvin focused on their knowledge of current and future learning environments that would mirror the best industry practices.

The Craft Guild of Chefs will now discuss the future of the summit as the number of accredited organisations is likely to grow over the next twelve months.