Cardiff and Vale College – fuelling the next generation of chefs at Brains

Cardiff and Vale College has joined forces with SA Brain & Co Ltd to provide work based learning for its chefs in pubs across Wales.

The partnership will see the College deliver apprenticeships in Food Production to train the next generation of chefs for Brains. The apprenticeship will be delivered across Wales by CAVC, working with partner organisations and follows a two-year top-to-bottom training strategy review by Brains.

Apprentice Brains chefs will also benefit from additional specialist workshops at the College’s City Centre Campus with is state of the art facilities and industry expert staff. The apprenticeship represents a new collaborative partnership between the College and the Brewery.

Jon Bridge, Director of People and Culture for Brains, said: “Apprenticeships form a strong foundation of our learning strategy at Brains. Our new partnership agreement with Cardiff and Vale College signals our intent to continue to drive this forward for the benefit of our kitchen teams across the pubs and in striving for food excellence for our customers. We have some exciting times ahead and huge opportunities to continue to invest further in our training.”

Kitchen Skills Manager Nathan Evans for Brains said: “We have worked hard over the last two years to fully review the programmes that we offer out kitchen teams within Brains and ensure that we have the right apprenticeship programmes available for the skill base that we utilise within our kitchens. Alongside this we have invested heavily in building our ‘kitchen essentials’ development programme that works in harmony with the standards and skills required to achieve the qualifications, meaning we have an end to end qualified pathway for all levels of chefs within our kitchens.”

CAVC Dean of Work Based Learning Andrew Whitcombe said: “Cardiff and Vale College’s work based learning consortia are pleased to be working with SA Brain & CO Ltd. Together with Pembroke and Llandrillo Menai College we will deliver a programme of learning across Wales. This fantastic partnership will give employment opportunities to many and offer a high quality learning experience throughout the programme.”

CAVC Principal Kay Martin said: “At Cardiff and Vale College we are a strong believer in apprenticeships and the positive impact that they can have on businesses and individuals as well as boosting the growth of the economy. That is why we work with thousands of apprentices and employers every year and we are thrilled to enter into this new partnership with Brains, which will see the next generation of culinary talent earning while they learn.”