Responding to the current national skills shortage in the UK baking and hospitality industry the National Bakery School (NBS), based at London South Bank University (LSBU) is keen to find out from employers in the sector, whether there is real demand for a new apprenticeship standard for ‘Baker’ (level 2) and ‘Advanced Baker’ (Level 3) potentially starting in January 2020.
David Hall, Managing Director of The London Bread and Cake Company, who supports the new apprenticeship standards, said: “We welcome this proposal by the National Bakery School to introduce two new baking apprenticeship standards to the baking and hospitality industry that will help us combat the current skills gap in the sector.
“The current national skills shortage it the sector means that employers are spending more than £6 billion a year, mainly on recruitment activities, in an effort to combat the problem.
“The new apprenticeship standards will become part of a solution to the national skills gap problem by helping employers’ reduce spend in the long-term and provide support for recruiting new talent to the sector.”
Training and development offered by the National Bakery School will result in a more agile, loyal, motivated and productive workforce, fully-equipped to rise to new challenges and drive organisations forward.
Elaine Thomson, Course Director at the National Bakery School, said: “LSBU’s National School of Bakery is an institution with a proud 125-year history of training bakers for the baking and hospitality sector, while working with employers to seek their views on shaping the delivery of bakery standards/programmes. We are keen to sound out the sector’s views, to establish the likely level of demand for these standards while obtaining industry guidance concerning the best delivery method available.”
The University already has 20 approved apprenticeship standards and currently over 700 apprentices enrolled on placements with industry across a variety of fields, ranging from building services engineering and architecture to digital marketing.
The University’s ambition is that by 2020, 2000 people will have completed apprenticeship and employer sponsored programmes at the Centre. This is part of LSBU’s strategy for supporting professional and technical learning in the local community.
Founded in 1894, The National Bakery School (NBS) at LSBU is the oldest bakery school in the world and is celebrating its proud 125 year anniversary this year. The NBS houses five dedicated baking laboratories which allow for the production of bread and fermented goods, confectionary and chocolate. Each room is well resourced with the most appropriate equipment to allow for effective delivery. The range includes proving ovens, baking ovens, mixers, work benches and tempering machines.
LSBU has a dedicated apprenticeship team who can meet with any employer with the NBS to determine the suitability of the standards.
Please follow the link to give us your views.https://lsbu.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/baking-apprenticeships-copy
For more information on how to apply to do an apprenticeship at LSBU visit.
