UCLan invites Lancashire catering and hospitality employers to join group to help tackle sector skills shortage

Following discussions with Lancashire tourism and hospitality organisations, it is clear that there is a pressing need to address the sector skills shortage and the poor retention of staff in the catering and hospitality sector, while at same time utilising government funding via the apprenticeship levy.

There are a number of lower-level apprenticeships for the sector but nothing that currently leads to a university accredited award (degree apprenticeships). As a result UCLAN has been liaising with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) (part of the Department for Education) who would like to work with Lancashire employers to understand the current skill and labour needs of their organisations.

The IfATE work with industry influencers and across government to create occupational standards against which vocational and technical qualifications for all sectors are developed, including apprenticeships, T levels, and other qualifications from entry to degree level.

Catering and hospitality businesses in Lancashire are under-represented in this work and the IfATE would like to give them the opportunity to address this and ensure that vocational and technical training meets their needs.  They are therefore establishing new employer groups to lead this work and would like to invite employers across Lancashire to join.

This is a high-profile group who collectively represent the catering and hospitality industry and drive positive change.

If you’re interested in joining these employer groups, or finding out more, IfATE are holding a briefing event on 25 August 2022 at 10:30am. Please email [email protected]  if you’d like to attend.