Pictured: Apprentices Katie Brandist, Nicole Moore, Cllr
John Mutton (Coventry City Council), Andrew Coppel (De Vere Group),
Kellie Rixon (De Vere Group), Daniel Gidney (Ricoh Arena),
Christopher Hall and Lauren Charley
The De Vere Academy of Hospitality has pledged to create 10,000
apprenticeships over the next three years after opening its 11th
venue at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
Around 170 guests from Coventry City Council, the National
Apprenticeship Service, Jobcentre Plus, businesses providing work
placements and the families of apprentices attended the launch.
The first group of cookery and customer service apprentices
served drinks and lunch and welcomed guests before the visitors
were taken on a tour of the academy.
Andrew Coppel, executive chairman of the De Vere Group which is
the country's largest independent hotel business, said the scheme
was creating the next generation of apprentice chefs and service
staff.
Speaking at the launch, he said: "Nearly 2,000 young people have
passed through the various academies and graduated as apprentices
to go into the big wide world since this was launched last
January.
"We want 10,000 apprentices to go through our academies over the
next three years. The academies create stars and we're proud of
them all.
"We're seeing stars here today and there are great opportunities
for them to develop their careers."
Daniel Gidney, chief executive of the Ricoh Arena, said this was
a wonderful project which would help to alleviate some of the
unemployment issues for young people in Coventry and
Warwickshire.
"This whole project is a microcosm of why the Ricoh Arena was
created in the first place," said Daniel, who is a board member of
the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
"We have a fantastic strong commercial relationship with De Vere
and this is not only something that's great since it has a
commercial strength behind it but has a strong local community
focus as well.
"Our primary focus is with the Not in Education, Employment or
Training (NEETS) which is a significant issue in this area and
throughout the country.
"There is over one million young people unemployed for the first
time in our history and this is a very difficult time but in
Coventry and Warwickshire we are leading the way in a number of
activities to promote youth employment to break down some of the
barriers behind taking on apprentices."
Kellie Rixon, managing director of the De Vere Academy of
Hospitality, said she was delighted to be opening its 11th
location.
She said: "The De Vere Academy has had fantastic success in
training and developing the career prospects of hundreds of young
people. We are committed to raising skills across our sector as
well as attracting a new breed of hospitality star.
"We are proud to be working with so many of our industry
partners to achieve such amazing results."