Led by Andrew Bennett, Craft Guild of Chefs Chairman, and David McKown, director of University Hospitality Seminars, the bespoke two-day training course was designed by University Hospitality Seminars Ltd to meet needs set by Elior’s food development director, Peter Joyner.
He explained: “Making the step up to executive level requires a whole new set of management and leadership skills.
“This course was designed specifically to meet that need. Feedback has been exceptional, with chefs rating it as one of the best academy courses they’ve ever been on.
“We’re already preparing a second cohort of ambitious chefs for the programme, as we look to continue developing a pipeline of talented chefs at every level of the business.”
McKown added: “Chefs are usually promoted for culinary skills, and don’t always get the same level of training and development as peers in non-culinary roles.
“The course we designed for Elior took content and examples from the culinary world and applied them to the sorts of managerial, commercial, and leadership skills these chefs need to take the next step in their development.”
Having already put 14 of its senior chefs to their paces, Elior said it plans to roll the course out across its entire business.