The hospitality industry has been one of the hardest hit sectors by the Covid-19 pandemic, with a 163% rise in restaurant job losses in 2020.

Whittaker commented: “The big thing about apprenticeships is they give a broad education. Apprentices are not stuck on a production line in a kitchen doing just one job – their experience is varied.

“Apprenticeships provide the in-depth training needed for people to excel in the field and see hospitality as a sector, which offers a career, not just a job.

“They can help bust the myth that careers in hospitality can be hard or unrewarding and position them as a positive career choice, boosting the potential for hospitality businesses to retain excellent staff.”

HIT Training believes that the industry ‘must act quickly’ to address the loss of talent and apprenticeships offer an opportunity to help the hospitality industry recover.