As the eighth series of The Apprentice hits our screens this week, Cardiff’s Red Hot World Buffet has announced it has taken on 11 apprentices, with plans to employ a further five apprentices over the next few months.
Red Hot World Buffet has joined forces with ACT Training to recruit 16 young people in Wales who have missed out on employment, training or further education to learn alongside its experienced team. They will be fulfilling a number of positions including chef and front of house.
They will be joined by Red Hot’s other 49 apprentices who have been recruited across the restaurant chain’s six other restaurants. It forms an integral part of the company’s wider expansion strategy as it hopes to open a further 18 UK sites over the next three years, taking the total number of restaurants to 25.
Prashant Jaiswal, Operations Manager for Training & Development at Red Hot World Buffet says “Apprentices are very much in the news this week as Sir Alan Sugar’s programme returns once again to our TV screens.
“At Red Hot, we have invested greatly in our apprenticeship programme as it’s a fantastic opportunity for young people to break into a profession, especially when the job market is so tough for graduates, and when getting into university is becoming more difficult and more expensive each year.
“It also enables us to teach young people from the start so that they learn from us directly about our five star standards of cooking and how we like to operate at Red Hot.”
In today’s difficult job market the options for young people leaving school or college are increasingly limited, with the latest figures revealing that unemployment in Wales increased by 1,000 during the three months to the end of January and today stands at 134,000[1]. Meanwhile, the number of people applying for university in 2012 has fallen 9% as people are unable to afford the rocketing tuition fees[2].
Red Hot World Buffet’s apprenticeship scheme lasts nine months with the opportunity to progress to full-time employment on completion of the course. Contracted to a 32-hour working week, the apprentices will finish the course with a NVQ Level 2 in either hospitality or kitchen services as well as the invaluable experience of working in a busy restaurant kitchen.
Robert Smith, 23, an apprentice chef who was out of work for four months before starting the Red Hot apprentice scheme says, “I am really excited about working at Red Hot World Buffet!
“As the restaurant serves nine different cuisines, I will learn how to prepare and cook a vast range of exciting dishes. By the end of the nine-month apprenticeship scheme, I hope to have gained a broad range of experience and picked up many new skills – this is a fantastic opportunity that I wouldn’t get at any other restaurant in Cardiff.”
Rhys Nowell-Hill, 21, who also works as an apprentice chef at Red Hot’s Cardiff restaurant added, “As this is my first job in a professional kitchen, I am very lucky to be working alongside such experienced chefs, many of whom have worked at executive chef level in five-star hotels across the world. I am learning first-hand from the very best.
“I have always been interested in cooking and have wanted to work in restaurants since leaving school, but, no matter how hard I tried, nobody was willing to give me a chance to prove myself. When I first spotted Red Hot’s apprenticeship scheme I jumped at the opportunity to apply and I am really grateful to Red Hot for giving me the opportunity to kick-start my career.”
The 16,000 sq foot, two-storey restaurant, in St David’s Shopping Centre serves up to 340 people at any one time and turns around 7,000 covers a week
Mr Jaiswal continues, “Our apprenticeship scheme gives young people the opportunity to learn essential skills in food preparation, presentation and service. For many it is the essential first chance in the catering industry and I look forward to continuing to support them in expanding their skills and building successful careers in the sector.
“All the apprentices at our Cardiff restaurant are incredibly motivated and enthusiastic about their role and they regularly bring new and innovative ideas to the table. We certainly find taking on apprentices extremely worthwhile and we’re planning to create more apprenticeship roles in the near future.”
Red Hot World Buffet has recently been shortlisted by a panel of independent judges for the Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2012 in the Best Apprentice / School Recruitment strategy category. The awards ceremony that recognizes the UK’s best recruiters will take place in London on the 2 May 2012.