Catering: Young People

There are well‑established local pathways into cooking, hospitality, and chef careers for young people claiming Universal Credit in Newcastle‑under‑Lyme and the wider Staffordshire and Stoke‑on‑Trent area.

Hospitality SWAPs (Sector-based Work Academy Programmes) are one of the best routes for UC claimants wanting kitchen or hospitality work. They usually include food prep and kitchen training, food hygiene certificates, a work placement, guaranteed interview and travel support while on benefits.

These are backed by DWP and UKHospitality, where we are working alongside employers such as Greene King, Mitchells and Butlers, Premier Foods, Home Bargains, McDonalds, Popeyes, Burger King and Five Guys.

Stoke on Trent College is providing Hospitality & Catering training with professional cookery, confectionery & patisserie, restaurant training, employer masterclasses and industry placements. Students also get experience working in the college restaurant “The Hammersley”.

There are a range of apprenticeship standards available in catering including the recently revised and refreshed Commis Chef (Level 2) and Production Chef (Level 2), alongside level 3 Pastry Chef (level 3), Chef de Partie (level 3) and Senior Culinary Chef (Level 4).

Currently, local chef apprenticeships in Stoke-on-Trent with employers such as Harvester, Toby Carvery, Vintage Inns / hotels pubs, Niagara Balti, are offering roles that include Production Chef (Level 2), Kitchen Assistant and Commis Chef.

More widely, to support our ambition of 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, we have expanded foundation apprenticeships into hospitality and retail, we are introducing a £2,000 hiring payment, and fully funding apprenticeship training, for non-levy paying employers (typically SMEs) that recruit 16-24-year-old apprentices.