Umbrella Training to sponsor the ‘Hospitality Apprenticeship Employer (under 1,500 employees)’ award at Caterer.com People Awards 2019

Promoting hospitality as a career of choice

Umbrella Training was launched in 2014 with a vision to promote hospitality as a career of choice and to support recruitment, development, retention and progression of talent within the hospitality sector.

At the same time, new apprenticeships standards and the levy were being introduced and it felt like this was the right moment to be at the forefront of a new era of this apprenticeship landscape.

Adele says:

Umbrella Training was one of the Trailblazers for hospitality standards and we are very proud of the outcomes and the impact the new apprenticeship standards are having on learning and development outcomes in the industry.

We actually came up with the idea for the business in a beautiful little restaurant in Rochester, over a glass of wine and amazing food just five years ago.

Quite fitting for a provider in the hospitality sector which now trains over 150 chefs a year and just as many hospitality specialists.

Umbrella Training has over 20 years of hospitality and apprenticeship experience plus external consultants who are some of the most highly-regarded learning and development experts in the sector.

We operate across the UK and work with a diverse range of partners across the hospitality sector.

Umbrella Training offers full suite of hospitality standards

These include:

• Hospitality Team Member Level 2 aimed at entry level positions, Hospitality Supervisor at Level 3 aimed at newly promoted supervisors and team leaders, Hospitality Manager at Level 4 aimed at assistant managers and managers of the departments.
• We also offer a more streamlined standards like Team Leader at Level 3, Operational Manager at Level 5 which is a foundation degree, Customer Service Practitioner and Business Administration standard at level 3.
• Umbrella Training’s Chef standards include delivery of Commis Chef and Production Chef standards at Level 2 and Chef de Partie and Senior Production Chef at Level 3.

Our approach is unique as we offer bespoke designed apprenticeships for each business to facilitate complete ownership by employers with their programmes.

Apprentices might be on the same standard but depending on which organisation they work for might have a completely different approach to learning, different activities they complete and different outcomes they aim for.

Apprenticeship clubs enhance all levels of training

Umbrella Training aims to step away from a generic and ‘old fashioned’ academy approach where one size fits all and focus on bespoke design for every group, employer and individual. Their apprenticeship clubs for all hospitality departments really enhance the apprentices learning journey and provide opportunities for social learning and networking with peers from other organisations from all over UK. Umbrella Training’s Ofsted report (Nov 2018) really evidenced their ‘outstanding’ relations with apprentices and employers.

Hospitality Superhero

This month we have also launched our Hospitality Superhero mentoring campaign which sees industry heavyweights like Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL, Brian Turner CBE, Mark Sargeant and Sally Beck FIH mentor Umbrella apprentices as part of their development.

Umbrella Training has been at the heart of the learning and development strategies of more than 100 hospitality businesses in the past five years. “We have been an apprenticeship provider of choice for hospitality businesses that value quality of provision and clarity of outcomes for all stakeholders,” Adele said. “For us, apprenticeships need to have meaning and substance, by working with our partners we are able to develop and devise programmes which have real impact – both for the apprentice and the employer.

Apprenticeship standards really fit the bill.

These are agile, relevant to the job roles and hands on.

They rely on assessment methods that are live and require people to do their job and do it well to excel.

There is no unnecessary bureaucracy and administration. Just learning and application of skills, knowledge and behaviours.

The introduction of levy and standards made some of the hospitality businesses really think about their strategy and how they can utilise their levy to support their organisational goals.

Today, all of our clients see apprenticeships as a crucial tool for retention of staff and development.

Widening talent pools through supporting our social mobility agenda also brings more diversity to our business partners and as a result we are witnessing a slight change in demographics and generations within the sector which is encouraging for us as an educator.

Working with key charities such as Hospitality Action and The Clink also support this strategy.

The Hospitality Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (under 1500 employees)

For businesses in this category, getting the right people strategy is critical.

They rely on people rather than infrastructure to deliver amazing outcomes.

We understand this and spend time working to support these strategies.

As a small business with national coverage, we understand the challenges and can support the businesses by designing bespoke programmes that support the development.

We’ve seen some high calibre of entrants who clearly demonstrate their dedication to the development of their teams by creating bespoke, quality driven approach to apprenticeships.

For these employers and for Umbrella Training, apprenticeships are not a numbers game, but a carefully planned, targeted approach focused on return on the investment with every apprentice.

Apprenticeships are a vital ingredient to recruiting, retaining and training your colleagues and the applicants all evidenced successful programmes that are having positive outcomes for their businesses.

We are proud to sponsor this award and are delighted to see so many talented candidates coming through the ranks.

Caterer.com People Awards are important to the industry

We need to promote and celebrate the pure brilliance of businesses that are recognising people as the heart of their organisation.

This is the future and we at Umbrella have the exact same philosophy – that our people come first. We will always support any business and help shout from the highest mountain about how amazing this sector is. It is our heart and soul as an organisation.

Caterer.com People Awards focus on sharing best practice, celebrating achievements and being inspired to do more and be better.

The sector needs more positive stories, more Superheroes in hospitality that we can celebrate and showcase to the generations that are thinking about joining the sector.

Sponsoring the 2019 Caterer.com People Awards is advantageous to any hospitality business, and Adele understands this too.

We believe that clear people strategies are a way to support a sustainable growth of any business.

It is time for HR and L&D directors to be sitting at the top table and recognised for the impact and difference that they make on daily basis.

People strategies have a measurable ROI and, at this point in time when there is so much uncertainty in our industry, a great people strategy will bring that competitive advantage.

We would like to welcome “under our Umbrella” and celebrate those individuals and businesses that have the same vision as we do; promoting hospitality as a career of choice.