![Winners (left to right): Sargent, Thomassen, Gibbison Compass Chef of the Year winners 2014, Sargent, Thomassen, Gibbison](/sites/default/files/styles/single_page/public/images/news/gold_winner5.jpg?itok=TpCjyCVz)
The contract caterer had whittled down more than 200 initial entries to 23 chefs who took part in the finals across the three categories.
Nick Vadis, culinary director for Compass Group UK & Ireland said: "This competition is our culinary highlight and is fiercely contested by chefs from across our business.
“It really showcases the amazing culinary talent that we have at Compass.
“Every year the bar gets raised and the quality of the food produced by both our junior and senior chefs was outstanding; these chefs are a real credit to our business and I'm sure many of the junior and apprentice chefs we saw today will become our senior chefs of tomorrow.”
In the senior competition, chef Thomassen took the gold, closely followed by Craig Nellis from ESS with silver and John Clarke from Eurest who won bronze.
In the junior competition, it was Sargent scooped gold, while Claire Rickard from Eurest came away with the silver and Maria Dare-Ojo from Restaurant Associates won the bronze.
This year's competition saw the return of the Compass Apprentice Chef of the Year category. The finalists were tasked with creating a duck dish in just 40 minutes, with Gibbison securing top prize and Shanti Gurung from ESS and Ben Smith from Levy Restaurants UK being awarded second and third place respectively.
The Know Your Food award also returned to the stage for 2014, following its launch in 2013 and yet again saw chefs demonstrate their ability to create amazing food that reflects Compass’ commitments to health, wellbeing and sustainable sourcing.
In the senior competition it was Lee Warren from Chartwells who took home the Know Your Food award, and in the junior competition it was Eleanor De Maria from Compass Group UK & Ireland’s Food Development Team.