And that’s a wrap! … Well, a taco!

Summer means a chance to get outdoors, and for our Hospitality School classes that is no exception!

We’ve been starting to wrap up our year long cookery courses with local schools in the traditional Hub way, through a celebration of all things food & drink of course!

This Summer Street Food event held at Parkhill Enterprise Academy, Glasgow, was particularly special, a culmination of a year long foodie journey involving four schools that started back in August.

The FOOD SCHOOL SCOTLAND Programme was originally started in 2018 with a small seed fund from Connect Local Regional Food Fund, the aim was to inspire communities to explore local produce, how its grow and how it can be used to bring the community together.

Since 2018 we have been focused on growing this programme to include more young people from across the region, its great to see many more school get involved.

Mr Pepin, Deputy Head of Parkhill Secondary and founder of the Enterprise Academy is a huge ambassador for culinary education and has been instrumental in getting this project off the ground, believing in the vision that we had at Hub International.

‘Programmes like Food School Scotland are immensely beneficial for our students, allowing them access to the industry through hands on masterclasses, immersive visits to local businesses, farms and getting to work with the producers, suppliers and operators of the full Scottish Hospitality supply chain. It has become a flagship programme for our school and one that we can all get involved in, including teachers & parents, a chance for us all to learn about on of Scotland’s biggest industries.’

The Food School Scotland Programme Manager, Lauren said ‘These young people are well equipped to gain experience or employment in the Hospitality, Food & Drink sector. They have a variety of unique skills from butchery, handling game birds, patisserie, barista & mixology as well as the theory and understanding of our vast sector. My self and the team of ambassadors at Hub International absolutely adore working here each week and supporting the new cohort to progress one step at a time. Today is a proud day seeing them complete such an intense course.’

We couldn’t make this programme as exciting as it has been without our brilliant programme partners, so a huge thanks to this years supporters:

Glasgow City Council, Wiseman Dairies, Johnston Stallbridge, Royal Highland Education Trust, Chocolatia, Bare Bones Chocolate, The Fish Plaice, Clydeside Distillery, Braehead Foods, Tantrum Doughnuts, Rapscallion, Monin, Chef Garry Gill, Forager Brody Mac, Brakes Scotland.

If your business would like to be involved in Food School Scotland next year we would love to talk.

If you are interested in working with Hub International to develop your schools culinary programmes please do get in touch with lauren@hi-people.org

Reunited, Ready & Raring to make a difference to the Hospitality Industry!

Hi! I am Lynn Williams and I am delighted to announce that I am the newest member of the team at Hub International, I cant wait to be reunited with some familiar faces in my new work family!

I absolutely adored working with Steph & the team at Tennent’s Training Academy

Here is my career story My working career started over 35 years ago when I started within The Co-Op Supermarkets as a finance clerk, I left this job to have my children. As soon as I was going back to work I realised I wanted to do something totally different from an office environment and of course to fit in with my children, so I got a part time job in a local off sales and I loved it. Very quickly a ending up full time and managing my own store. During my time with Haddow’s and Victoria Wine I had several stores ,and my team and I won regional store of the year which was a fantastic feeling for us all. I eventually moved to multi-site manager the Cluster co-coordination.

One day I was shopping in a large supermarket called Safeway on Anniesland cross. There was just something about the staff members it was at the time when the director Carlos said that shopping should be enjoyable not a chore, and there was a barista stand ,Pizza dough throwing up in the air and several very funky new ideas in the store and these team knew how to entertain and wow the customers, That day I went home and applied. Two Months later I was a management trainee, 6 months training in all department and it was a whirlwind. I met some amazing people and mentors during my store time and I loved the training side of my role . When Morrison took over Safeway everyone was in shock as the were selling off a lot of stores mine being one. Then something that would change and challenge me happened I received a call from Morrison Training Team saying that they had been given my name as someone who had a passion for people and training, at first I was unsure as the head office is in Bradford however they said I could be based in Glasgow so I went for the interview. I stay there for the rest of my career with Morrison, they put me through all my teaching qualification , too many to name compliance qualification and anything that I though could help me become a better trainer , mentor or coach . Our team won several awards for outstanding training and achievements. I covered the whole of Scotland and the North of England . The job was great, however you do get tired living out of Hotels and room service and I had some medical issues that effected my mobility, after 15 years it was time to make a change!

Tennent’s Training Academy I went for a ‘quick chat’ with Steph Wade (which turned into 4 Hrs!) and I was hooked. I had never seen a place like this before that catered for all types of people. I wanted this job, lucky for me Steph wanted me too! I was looking after Training Compliance as well as delivering a whole host of advanced qualifications, every day was different, the atmosphere was different the team were different, everyone had the same goal making our customer happy and feel comfortable in the training academy, and we were thriving!

The Highlight for the team was when we won the BIIAB Training Award there were a few sore head in the morning after that night, but what an achievement!

I have never been more proud & part of a team so special

I sat some more qualifications in the academy, everyone was encouraged to Learn something new. I even became a qualified Whisky Ambassador! I don’t like Whisky but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. As well as training, I gained an Assessor Qualification, became a Mental Health Trainer and so much more. I also learnt how to make a Pizza, several cocktails and the best Lamb Curry ever ……..Thanks Chef Lauren!

Unfortunately Covid Struck, the Academy had to close and the team were made redundant, I was lucky as I was offered a role in our Head office as Compliance L&D Business partner. My duties here were looking after all Scotsman venues compliance training bookings and looking after our LMS, making sure we stayed within training budgets, I stayed here until end of March 2023.

I am delighted to be joining Hub International, coming back to my Training and Compliance routes and working together again with some of the most passionate trainers I have met, I cant wait to get started and to meet all our my new clients & learners and help they achieve their goals!

To discuss your training needs or to simply say HI! email me at Adminqueen@hi-people.org

My hospitality career took me round the world, now it’s time to inspire others to chase their dreams!

Let’s get ready for take-off!

Hi! my name is Linda. I have been working in the world of hospitality since the age of 17. I began my hospitality career

working for Sodexo at the magnificent Hampden Park where I worked my way up to Conference & Banqueting Supervisor and Match Day Manager of the Executive Boxes. Working within in the hospitality team for Sodexo Live! gave me so many fantastic opportunities to work in different venues across the UK, from Perth Racecourse to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

In 2014 I decided to travel to Australia for a year where I found myself working in bars, restaurants and not forgetting picking strawberries at on a strawberry farm for 3 months! I fell in love with Australia, the amazing weather mostly and made friends for life along the way.

On my return flight to Glasgow in 2015 I had spoken to the crew about their role as cabin crew and I thought it sounded like the perfect role for me. To combine my two passions, traveling and hospitality. I began applying for Cabin Crew Roles. I attended an Emirates Cabin Crew open day, and only went and got the job! I packed my bags and moved to Dubai.

During my 6 years at Emirates I visited some of the most amazing place around the world. I was part of a highly diverse workforce where crew come together from over 160 nations around the world. We learn from each other and contribute to the astonishing performance of the Airline. After my first year at the airline, I was proud to be awarded an Emirates Brand Ambassador award. Working as a Business Class cabin crew I was able to take my fine dining skills to whole ne
w level (40,000ft to be precise). During my time as cabin crew, I attended College to study Business and HR. I was proud to work for a fantastic employer like Emirates as they had strong focus on their employees learning and development. I am continuing my studies in L&D where I am currently working towards gaining my CIPD L4 Qualification. I hope to support other companies to be able to grow and train their teams as well as I was developed in my career so far.

The hospitality industry allows you to develop yourself – professionally and as a person. Not only do you improve on the professional skills you already possess, but with time and commitment you learn others due to the variety of colleagues, clients and situations that will put you to the test.

Finally, the reason why I love hospitality so much is simple: IT’S FUN! I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge and skills I have learned along the way to inspire more people to get into the exciting and rewarding career of hospitality.

I am just getting started in my role and can’t wait to be a part of shaping the hospitality industry to be a better place to work, supporting its people to grow and training the amazing future talent that I have already started to meet.

You can contact me on Linda@hi-people.org and say hi!

Linda

From bonny banks to chief of our braw brews!

Meet Michael – Head Barista Tutor

Hi! my name is Michael and I have been working in the hospitality industry for 8 and a half years now. I started my career off at a local five-star restaurant (Cameron house Hotel) with the initial aim of being part time until I went to university. My first role was being part of the bar team and being a 18 year old freshly out of school I was quite nervous about the prospect of the job as I had no prior knowledge or experience of the industry as this was my first job. It was only a matter of months working within this role before I gained a real passion for the hospitality industry, and I made the decision that this was the career that I wanted to follow. I feel I was lucky to have great co-workers and managers around me when I started which not only trained me within the role but gave me the knowledge and confidence to be able to develop my skills and grow as a person. I feel that to this day I have used the positive training experience I received as an inspiration to use my experience and train the next generation of hospitality workers.

For the first couple of years, I learned all the basics of hospitality and worked between the restaurant floor and behind the bar. My initial passion was for drinks and I often found myself reading up on any material I could get my hands on about cocktails and general spirits. I loved the buzz of a busy restaurant and making loads of drinks whilst getting to meet a wide range of people from around the world.

After three years in my role, I moved up to the Clubhouse Restaurant located at the Carrick within Cameron house resort to become a food and beverage supervisor. It was within this role my clear passion was found and that was training and developing people. I was fortunate enough to do a number of training courses throughout my time which included achieving the WSET level 2 award and becoming a whisky ambassador, both of which were held at Tennents Training Academy. I got to use my knowledge and skills learned from these courses not only for guests benefit by hosting wine, gin and whisky masterclasses/tastings but I got to hold regular team training sessions for my team to share what I had learned. During my time here I also got the chance to create and develop the cocktail list for the restaurant. This was always a dream of mine to do and loved creating the list from start to finish and seeing positive guest feedback from it.

During my time as a supervisor within Cameron House I became the resort trainer

for food and beverage Assistants and I would be in charge of training any new employees that joined the company that were working front of house. My love for training people grew and this role I was given really cemented my thoughts of this is what I wanted to do moving forward in my career. The first batch of trainees I received were part of a summer resort assistant role where most of them were still in school and had little to no hospitality experience. I loved being able to impart my wisdom to them and use my experience and knowledge to help train and develop them. I found it really rewarding to see them grow into their role and watch their skill set and confidence grow after taking part in the training sessions. I received the most job satisfaction when I would see some members of the training group I had go on to gain a permanent role and become valued team members.

I then moved into an assistant manager role at Cameron house where I was lucky enough to continue be a resort trainer and my love for training people only grew and grew.

After a total of seven and a half years at Cameron house hotel I decided I wanted a change and I moved onto become a cafe manager at St Mocha coffee shop and ice cream parlour in Balmaha. This was a totally different role for myself and a completely different working environment than what I was used to with it being more of an informal service within a coffee shop. I loved being part of the team here and was able to gain loads of experience and develop my overall management skillset. I have always loved coffee and I was able to learn all about coffee in great depth within this role including learning and taking part in the coffee roasting process.

I am luckily enough to work in an industry that I love and I spend my spare time and days off visiting new bars/restaurants and coffee shops. My favourite thing to do on a day off is to find a new coffee shop to go to and plan a walk around it and finish up by getting a coffee and cake. I love going into different coffee shops and seeing how they all do things differently often take notes of any cool or interesting products or methods they use within their shop.

I also love trying any new restaurants and bars that open up in around Glasgow and enjoy a good night out in a cocktail bar.

I am absolutely delighted to join the Hub International team I can’t wait to get to get started in my role as the head barista tutor. When I first saw the job role vacancy I thought it was the dream job for myself as I would not only become a full time trainer but I would be helping young adults develop their skills and give them that base knowledge and confidence of working in the hospitality industry. The prospect of being able to tutor the children and see them move on from school and gain work and prosper within the industry fills me with excitement and I can’t wait to get started in my new role.

Join our training team! Barista Trainer opportunity at Hub International

Are you looking for a change of pace from the daily grind?

Do you have a keen interest in coffee and a passion for building skills in others?

Ready to rise to a new challenge? If so, we want to hear from you!

At Hub International we are looking for an experienced barista to join the team and help us develop the next generation of café superstars.

Trainee Barista

Training on the coffee machine at schoolWhat does a normal day look like?

As a barista trainer there are many different challenges from a standard day in a café.

The majority of our young trainees will have never made a coffee before, and so the right person will be patient and encouraging while supporting them through this process. We work very closely with schools and charities who support young people to get in to work (sometimes for the first time), so positivity and support is at the heart of what we do. No day will be the same, you might be teaching a school group how to froth milk one day and serving the public in a pop-up educational event the next.

Our team can travel all over the central belt, and often beyond, so while a drivers license and car is not essential, flexibility to travel is required from time to time.

What are we looking for in our Barista Trainer?

A natural passion for delivering hospitality
A confident barista with excellent communication skills
Patience, some of our trainees will need more support than others
Flexibility and willingness to travel to more than one location in a day
Hospitality Management or supervisory experience is beneficial but not essential

Trainees celebrate end of year achievements at the Hub International Hospitality School

What’s in it for you?

Excellent training and support in achieving your next steps in your career
Very limited weekend work, we are busiest Monday to Friday, mainly daytimes!
Annual leave during school holidays & no more working during Christmas festivities
Regular appraisal, funded qualifications and room to progress within our company
A rewarding role where you can watch those you train develop and grow in confidence
Trips to a ton of coffee houses and exciting industry experiences

If this sounds like the right fit then get in touch, we are eager to meet likeminded people with a shared love of coffee!

Where do I apply?

Send your CV or Video intro to: info@hi-people.org

Coming to a classroom near you!… Welcome aboard Chef Lauren

”I am absolutely delighted to join the team at Hub International as Head of Culinary Education and look forward to sharing my knowledge and passion of this dynamic industry to inspire the next generation of Hospitality Superstars.”

Chef lauren on the cookery stage

Hi, my name is Lauren. Some of you may come to know me as Chef Lauren as we meet in the kitchen. I’ve been fortunate to be part of this growing industry for 20 years and I’ve had an absolute ball along the way. From the age of 18 I started front of house, first there was the banter from the Glasgow bar fly’s, then I packed up and took my beer pulling talents to the beaches of Thailand and my fine dining service skills to the Australian coasts. Not forgetting important wine list forming missions to Champagne, of course!

This industry has afforded me fantastic opportunities to travel, meet diverse cultures and make friends for life. After 10 years charming Glasgow’s elite in the dining room, the buzz of the kitchen started calling my name. I studied patisserie at City of Glasgow College where I was also awarded a Medallion of Excellence at the World Skills UK competition. After college, I worked as a pastry chef in such renowned restaurants as Rogano, Stravaigin and the The Balmoral Hotel.

Next, I was very fortunate to be involved with legendary chefs Albert and Michel Roux Jnr in setting up and opening their first Chez Roux restaurant in the region.

In 2016 I met with the amazing team at Tennent’s Training Academy and discovered my love for teaching and training through delivering cookery classes. My days were filled with sharing the knowledge and skills I’ve picked up along the way. Its amazing to see so many of my young trainees going on to rewarding careers in professional kitchens.

Chef Lauren making Macaroons

However, the Covid-19 pandemic threw a little curveball with the closures it brought but in this industry, we are resilient, we adapt and we thrive. Miss ‘Rona brought me to the doors of Sweet Jane Bakehouse, who started as a new business the very first week of lockdowns. We wouldn’t let a small thing like a global pandemic stop us from slinging sourdough though and Sweet Jane has emerged as one of Glasgow’s best Artisan bakery’s.

Seeing the skills gap growing in the industry has only reinforced my passion and desire to share what a challenging but fun and rewarding career this can be. I can’t think of a better team to be joining than Hub International who offer amazing training and development opportunities to help people realise their full potential.

I am looking forward to getting out and about to all the classrooms, workplaces & community events we are supporting, and I will hopefully see you soon in our new training kitchen at Platform, Argyle Street Arches

Lauren

Did you know we can now accept ITA funding on all our qualifications?

What is ITA Funding?

Get up to £200 towards the cost of a training course with an SDS Individual Training Account (ITA). Use the money to build the skills you need for a job. Or get some training to take your career to the next level. And because it’s not a loan, you do not have to pay it back.

Applying for your ITA

Applications are now open until the 31st March 2022 or until we accept up to 28,000 applications, whichever comes first – over 25,000 have been accepted so far!

How to get your ITA

Search for an ITA course using our course search
Apply online for ITA using the link in the course details
Receive confirmation
Contact Hub International to confirm and book your course info@hi-people.org

What Qualifications are available?

We have the SCPLH, SCPLH Refresher and Level 2 Food Safety all available to undertake at our training academy in Glasgow, Online or why not request a location that suits you? Such as your workplace, if you can get a group of trainees together we could come to you!

Course search results | My World of Work

More courses will be coming soon – do let us know what you would like to see next?

Are you an employer? Request a group on site training course here: Info@hi-people.org

Oh Dear! Lucky Lisa’s locked in my kind of paradise

In March 2020, just before the world as we know it went from under us and was replaced by nothing but our own four walls, we were delighted to be invited behind the scenes of Glasgow’s Dear Green Coffee Roasters. We knew we were in for a treat, a tour of the roastery, a curated coffee class just for our fresh faced trainees but I think the unexpected gift was to hear the story of a fabulous female entrepreneur, Lisa Lawson.

HI! Hospitality Trainees recent visit to Dear Green HQ

Grab a cuppa, and take a minute to watch her message from the eerily quiet roastery to the hospitality trainees https://youtu.be/my35oEW-7LU

I had heard of Dear Green, tried their coffee at the last Glasgow Coffee festival and even have one of their Keep Cups knocking about somewhere, but until our visit had never appreciated how the business started and just how much of a heart it has, it’s safe to safe I am now a BIG fan and even started my own monthly coffee subscription which has given me another reason to be cheerful in the morning lockdown routine.

It was really quite inspiring for me and the young people to hear how Lisa started roasting coffee using her last savings to buy her first roaster and within a matter of years was being flown out across the world to the coffee farms to inspect the conditions of the workers, ensuring they were being looked after and benefiting from their supply partnership. I felt like I was with her for a second when she described the magical experiences she had, hearing the soulful singing of the Ethiopian women in the plantation, happy in their work providing for their families. I sense she feels very proud knowing the more she expands her business the more work, income and stability she is providing for other women, children and families around the world.

Lisa on a visit to meet women coffee producers

Her approach to ethical business makes her a good person, but this teamed with her strong work ethic and respect for others in her team has clearly been a key factor in her success to date. Her business has grown organically, Dear Green has a strong following of indy cafes, bars and restaurants and now a roaring trade from lockdown coffee addicts who are ordering beans online in an attempt to become a pro stay-at-home barista. It’s nice to see so many people are valuing her approach to sourcing coffee transparently, and paying her own staff a fair wage, seeing Lisa’s business growth has given me a little more faith that our buying habits are changing for the better and we’re not just happy to settle for the cheapest of products at all costs.

I MISS COFFEE. I have it every day and yet I feel like I am missing it. The ritual of grabbing a coffee I suppose. Nothing will beat the smell of freshly ground coffee in the morning, the hiss of the milk wand and the chitter chatter of people from all walks of life milling about a coffee shop. I know we all cannot wait to get back to enjoying basic freedoms like a morning coffee..with PEOPLE! Although I do wonder how we are all going to have a brew with a face mask on?

SO…for now all we can do is put the kettle on and enjoy some peace, this is probably the only time in your lifetime that you will have to be so relaxed and de-stressed with little pressure to do anything, so before the world awakens again try to savour this special quiet time, if you can.

Stay Home, Stay Safe, Drink Coffee

Steph

Steak pie & chocolate brownies

Lockdown has given us the chance to catch up with lots of our awesome chef ambassadors in their downtime and hear what they’ve been up to when not busy in the kitchen.

We thought it might be nice to share a few of their words of support as we know it can be such a hard time just now, especially for our young trainees who have only really just embarked on their career but have suddenly found themselves out of work all too soon. Believe it or not, chefs feel a bit lost too, they’re not used to not working and find it hard to sit still without something to do!

First up we heard from Stephen Hampson, of the Sodexo Sports & Leisure team. Stephen has been the Sous chef at Hampden Park for 4 years now, he has been supporting the Hi! employability programmes for the last couple of years, providing fun cooking challenges to trainees, chances to learn during work experience in the stadium kitchens and supporting many of you to gain employment with Sodexo, in particular during the 2018 European Championships which was an amazing opportunity to be a part of.

Stephen training young people of the Hi! Champions Academy we did with charity Achieve More Scotland in 2018

To keep your mind off what’s happening Stephen’s keen to share the message that things will pick up again, kitchens will be busier than ever so please try to enjoy this time off while you can, learn some new recipes and keep busy!

Stephen has shared his chocolate brownie recipe here with us, we cant wait to try it! Why not send us your pictures if you manage to have a go? Stephen would love to see them!

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

There’s hundreds of different chocolate brownie recipes, here’s a great website I’ve been using during lockdown: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/chocolate_brownies

The ingredients Stephen used were:

185g unsalted butter
185g dark chocolate
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
50g white chocolate
50g milk chocolate
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar

Stephen’s keeping busy in lockdown making chocolate brownies

Thanks for reading, and remember when you start working again you will look back on this time and wish you had spent more time relaxing, learning new things or catching up on boxsets, so be kind to yourself and enjoy a little me time!

Safe at home, not stuck at home

Steph

Charity Cooks Up a Storm to Plug Hospitality Skills Gap

The first young people have graduated from a new programme helping to plug a recruitment gap in the hospitality sector, which has been described as a “crippling shortage” by one of the country’s top chefs.

The programme is a collaboration between Action for Children Scotland and Hub International and works with young people aged between 16 and 24 with an interest in hospitality or cookery. Throughout the programme, the young people earn industry specific qualifications, innovative educational experiences and spend time working in top hotels.

The new programme comes as leading chefs including Nick Nairn and Andrew Fairlie warn of the crisis gripping the sector. Mr. Nairn referred to “a crippling shortage of talent out there at the moment” while Mr Fairlie, of the eponymous restaurant at the Gleneagles golf resort, is on record saying: “We have stopped advertising for experienced staff and are now taking on people straight from college or with no experience whatsoever.”

This hospitality programme is the latest addition to Action for Children’s employability offering in Scotland. The charity has delivered employability programmes in Scotland since 2008. Initially offering ‘Youthbuild’, a construction based programme, the charity’s employability network now includes 11 services, supporting young people into careers in sectors as diverse as forestry and engineering and, now, the hospitality sector.

The move into providing hospitality training continues a journey that Action for Children have been on in recent years. Since 2014, around 20 young people have come through the charity’s ‘Yes Chef!’ programme, which sees them train as chefs in restaurants and kitchens across Glasgow.

Stephanie Wade CEO of Hub International said:
There’s been momentum building in the industry for some time to bring back the classical practical cookery training and development of professional hospitality skills that the young people are required to have in our trade. We listened to educators, chefs, hoteliers and restauranteurs to find out what skills they wanted young people to have. We took away the traditional classroom, lecture style approach to training, to design a programme that was 90% hands on, skills led, and employer backed, to produce real results. To inspire these young people in to hospitality careers, we needed to let them see and experience real working kitchens & bars, to cook with fresh produce, visit the producers, meet the makers and get to grips with all the equipment first hand, not through a textbook, and not just gain the mandatory qualifications. Our students even visit farms to see where Scottish produce is grown, and learn about the importance of seasonality & local produce when designing menus, they got the chance to dine out and experience 5* service at Blythswood square before getting the chance to work there. We were keen to launch the first project in the vibrant city of Glasgow, with its diverse food & drink scene, and due to the success with nearly all of the young people achieving roles in top hotels, we can’t wait to take the programme nationwide. Our aim is to help build confidence and create opportunities for anyone who may be struggling to gain meaningful employment, and of course support more great employers with their mission to inspire the next generation in to the industry we adore. Recruitment isn’t as simple as sticking and advert out anymore, we need to all work together to show young people how attractive and exciting hospitality careers can be, highlighting the positives instead of all the issues would be a good start.

James Cantley, Operational Director for Children’s Services at Action for Children said: “We are really proud to see the first young people graduate from our new hospitality programme.
“Hospitality is a crucial sector in Scotland but is suffering from a skills shortage. Our hope is that this new programme will support young people into careers in this sector and help plug this skills shortfall.

“Over the last 10 years, we have supported some 6,000 young people into employment, training or to re-engage with education through our network of employability programmes. The hospitality programme is an exciting new venture for everyone at Action for Children and builds on the success we have already had through our ‘Yes Chef!’ programme. Through this programme, we hope to help plug that gap and create the next generation of talented chefs.”

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