Representatives from one of the UK’s most popular restaurant chains have been sharing expert guidance with students at Rugby College about cooking up a career in the hospitality industry.
ASK Italian’s Dawn Robertson, resource manager, and Samuel Devan, regional chef trainer Italian, gave a talk to catering students at the college’s recently opened on-site restaurant ‘Courses’.
More than 25 students from across Level 1 and Level 2 Professional Cookery courses attended the talk to find out about building a career in hospitality with one of the country’s most prominent brands, which has 65 restaurants across the UK.
The students asked questions about career progression, pay in the industry, how ASK sources its food and how the business helps its staff to develop.
Chris Dowling-Fennell, 19 from Southam, is a Level 1 Professional Cookery student at Rugby College. He said: “It was interesting to hear about the fresh food and how they look to source it to make the dishes as traditionally as possible in their restaurants. I would definitely be interested in a career in the industry and eventually I want to own my own restaurant.”
Chloe Windebank, 17 from Bishop’s Itchington, is also on the Level 1 course. She added: “I thought it was very well presented today. I love cooking and I want to one day own my own restaurant, so to hear about how restaurant chains of that scale work was really interesting.”
Dawn and Samuel provided insight into how ASK Italian sources its ingredients and food from producers in Italy. They also discussed the range of career paths in hospitality and how the businesses supports people to move from the kitchen and front of house team to senior level management.
They also highlighted the culture of working in hospitality and discussed their experience of working in the sector.
Dawn Robertson said: “It is massively important for ASK to be involved in bringing through the next generation of young people to work in the hospitality industry. We are always looking for people that are passionate about our food, our values and building a career with us.
“We want to give young people an insight into what it is like to work in the industry and how they can really move their career forward. We could speak nationally at events but we are passionate about getting out into the heart of local communities and directly reaching those young people.
“The students were phenomenal with such an engaging set of questions and it is always great to be able to talk to people that are interested in what you are saying, then to be able to answer any burning questions they have.
“We would like to thank Rugby College for having us and thank the students for being so engaged in the talk.”
Courses Restaurant at Rugby College is open to the public and helps to provide hands-on industry experience to prepare students for working in the hospitality industry.
Tracey Gibson, head of catering at Rugby College, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to get a chance to find out what it is like to work for one of the country’s leading restaurant chains.
“Dawn and Samuel were very open and willing to answer every question from our students, and sessions like this are invaluable as our students prepare to embark on careers in the hospitality industry.
“We hope that the session has provided some inspiration for our students and we would like to thank ASK Italian for coming to speak with us.”
To find out more about catering courses at WCG visit www.wcg.ac.uk/study
PICTURE CAPTION: From left to right – Fay Galpin (instructor), Samuel Devan, Eloise Kerr, Dawn Robertson, Chloe Windebank, Chris Dowling-Fennell and Tracey Gibson.