Six finalists battle it out for Gluten-Free Chef of the Year title

The following chefs will compete next week: • Robert Stordy from Buxton, Derbyshire who is corporate chef-lecturer at University of Derby • Jason Church from Chessington, Surrey who is a head chef at Sodexo • Michael McCamley from Newry in Northern Ireland who is head chef at Venue Catering • Shanice Parris aged 18 from Southampton who attends Westminster College • Jordan Senior aged 20 from Manchester who is a sous chef at Dough Pizza Kitchen • Ryan Kendall aged 18 from Reading who attends Newbury College. Prizes Gluten-free Chef of the Year A stage at award winning restaurant in Gleneagles working under Michelin starred chef, Andrew Fairlie with accommodation included. Up and Coming Gluten-free Chef of the Year A stage at award winning restaurant Pennyhill Park working under Michelin starred chef, Michael Wignall with accommodation included. Additional prizes for winners and runners up are kindly supplied by Sodexo and 3663. The competition is being run in association with the Institute of Hospitality, the Craft Guild of Chefs and supported by Unilever Foodsolutions UK & Ireland who are making available their Leatherhead based culinary business development kitchens for the live cook off. Entrants were required to design and submit a three course gluten-free menu to get the industry thinking about how to cater for people with coeliac disease. The competition comprised two categories; 'Gluten-free Chef of the Year', for chefs over the age of 23 and the 'Up and Coming Gluten-free Chef of the Year', for catering students and trainee chefs under the age of 23. After an extensive first round of blind judging the following have been named as the three finalists from each category: The judges, which comprised of celebrity chef and Food Ambassador of Coeliac UK, Phil Vickery and a panel of experts, said: "After spending a day reviewing and deliberating all the entries, the six we have shortlisted for the cook off demonstrated both creativity and a clear understanding of what people with coeliac disease are looking for when eating out. We are looking forward to seeing these finalists for the live cook off and tasting their creations to find the winners of the competition." Sarah Sleet, chief executive of Coeliac UK added: "At least 1 in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease; representing a potential £100 million market amongst those diagnosed with the condition and the friends and family they eat out with."