National Skills Academy

Minister for Skills David Lammy announced on 7th May 2008, that the People 1st co-ordinated bid for a National Skills Academy in Hospitality had been successful.

This marks the dawn of a new era in education and training for the hospitality industry, with employers working in partnership with Academy centres to design and deliver challenging and robust programmes to stretch the best, most capable learners.

The Academy for Hospitality is a key part of our National Skills Strategy, and it is backed by leading sector employers.

Barceló Hotels, Compass Group plc, Terry Laybourne and Edge Foundation are investing over £16 million in the Academy to develop new and unique, cutting edge training environments.

These new environments will include hotels and restaurants operating fully commercially but with an integrated Skills Academy built into their operations. Learners will develop skills and knowledge while actually serving the public and being supported and mentored by experienced professionals.

The Academy will also embrace learning providers that can prove their strength in delivering a breadth and depth of excellent hospitality provision.

These providers will become a key delivery arm of the Academy's enhanced learning programmes and services to employers. The Executive Summary of our business plan can be downloaded by clicking on the icon to the right.