Wirral Met College’s hospitality and catering students and staff were celebrating once again as they were officially presented with the prestigious AA College Rosette award and the prestigious Gold Standard, by Andy Doyle, Membership Operations Manager from People1st.
Wirral Met is the first Further Education college in the Liverpool City Region to be awarded these two accolades, which recognise the outstanding quality of service the restaurant and the teaching team provide to local people, employers and, of course, the students themselves, who will soon become the chefs of the future.
The presentation of the accolades took place in the College’s Birches Restaurant, where Principal Sue Higginson and Chair of Governors, David Clark, were joined by the hospitality and catering team, along with local employers working in partnership with the College.
The prestigious Hospitality Guild Gold Standard award is presented to colleges that demonstrate a progressive and sustainable commitment to matching students’ skills with employers’ needs. Gold standard colleges take an above average and pro-active approach to the continued professional development of their staff and showcase effective and collaborative industry working partnerships. Wirral Met’s hospitality provision was assessed by an external panel consisting of employers from the hospitality and catering industry, who on behalf of the Hospitality Guild, judged the College’s facilities, quality processes, results and teaching and learning to be worthy of this prestigious national award.
The AA Hospitality Award College Rosette was awarded to the College for The Birches Restaurant and specifically in recognition of the enhanced levels of service and very good communication between the kitchen team and the Front of house team. This award demonstrates to hospitality and catering employers that Wirral Met is one of the best places to develop skilled staff to meet business needs.
Andy Doyle, Membership Operations Manager from People1st, congratulated Wirral Met on the awards and said, “The accreditation panel were extremely impressed with the college’s application and the feedback from the verification visit was tremendously positive. In particular, the panel noted that the strong relationships between the college and local employers were ensuring that they were training the next generation with the right skills and attributes to meet the demand of local industry.
“As a flag bearer for excellence in training delivery with our industry, your consistency in producing well trained, well rounded and work ready individuals will ensure that we continue to grow as a sector.”
Sue Higginson, Principal of Wirral Met College, said “I am very proud of our catering staff and students who continue to work extremely hard to deliver an excellent culinary experience in our Birches Restaurant. This is recognised by these prestigious national awards from People1st. Wirral Met works with over a thousand employers to provide high quality work experience components of study programmes and the Birches Restaurant is one clear example of our success in preparing students for employment in their chosen career.”