Featured image credit: Edgbaston
Edgbaston Stadium, home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, has announced plans to open a new on-site catering and hospitality training centre.
The centre will be operated by Levy UK + Ireland, the stadium’s catering partner, and is due to open in February. The new space, known as Xcelerate with Edgbaston, will offer career opportunities for local people.
The facility will be located in the Wyatt Stand and will provide front-of-house, back-of-house, facilities management and IT digital solutions training for aspiring chefs and hospitality professionals. It is hoped graduates from the centre will go on to secure jobs at the stadium.
The project is a joint initiative between Edgbaston, Levy, and the latter’s parent company, Compass Group UK & Ireland. The facility ties in with Compass’s ‘Mission to a million’ campaign to impact one million lives by 2030 through its ‘Social Promise’ programme.
Claire Daniel, Edgbaston’s operations director, said: “The centre will be equipped with cutting-edge technology allowing people to train with the latest innovations to provide customers and clients with great food and great service. We want to take a lead in training up the chefs, event managers, receptionists, baristas and facilities managers of the future. And hopefully some will go on to work with us here at Edgbaston.”
Robin Mills, chief executive of Compass Group UK & Ireland, added: “We believe the food and support services sector is a barrierless industry and are committed to providing opportunities for all. Access to training is critical to help people develop the skills they need to build fulfilling careers. By setting up centres in partnership with our clients, like Edgbaston, we are going to be able to support many people in the communities in which we work.”
Work is currently underway to fit out the modern cooking stations, training areas, classrooms and customer service frontages for the new centre.
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