The Future of Public Sector Catering - Molly Shaher National Chair of Professional Association of Catering Education (PACE)

It may not be all doom and gloom, but there are still plenty of reasons why the public sector catering industry looks forward with a sense of apprehension.

As we build up to the inaugural Public Sector Catering Expo taking place in November, David Foad, editor of Public Sector Catering magazine, asked industry leaders to outline the challenges they currently face and forecast the ones still to come.

Molly Shaher National Chair of Professional Association of Catering Education (PACE)

Although many catering and hospitality colleges are doing such sterling work providing excellent and diverse curriculum and training opportunities, it is still currently a very troubling time, with no light at the end of the tunnel for the foreseeable future due to massive cuts in government funding.

This year alone we have seen at least three colleges closing their restaurant doors, due to funding being cut to the bare minimum. One of the biggest shocks has been the closure of the AA Gold standard Foxholes Restaurant at Runshaw College, which closed its doors after 30 years, denying the next generation of students to gain the professional skills and experience to support the hospitality sectors’ skills shortage.

What is even more shocking is that this may not be the last college to shut its restaurant doors. Others will inevitably follow unless funding is restored.

The squeeze on government funding is not supporting the continuous and increasing challenge which catering and hospitality colleges face. Catering departments do have large food overheads. Restaurants and kitchens need to be fully and realistically equipped. Also, the removal of food technology from the curriculum in many schools is impacting on college recruitment as students are not taking the subject to the next level.

One of the biggest limitations is that there are not enough trained teachers in secondary schools, and some are self-taught or even learning from social media.

And students are not choosing catering and hospitality as a profession. The sector is often not viewed as a worthy profession. The poor perception of the industry - long unsociable hours, poor wages, very high demanding kitchens and some customers treating front house staff with disrespect - can all be off-putting to both potential students and their parents.

Increasing numbers of TV shows portraying employers being pushed to breaking point, and portraying poor working relationships among kitchen teams, is not highlighting what the industry really has to offer. Yes, long hours can be part of the industry, but the breadth of choice as a profession within industry is vast and exciting.

Opportunities such as chef, housekeeper, sommelier, operations manager, food journalist, accountant, marketeer etc are all possible, and in a variety of settings. All these careers can take applicants around the world to work, in amazing venues. Yet sadly, this is never showcased enough.

At such a disturbing time for colleges, the massive skills shortage in the industry does not support the growing concern. Employers large or small are fighting for staff, and potential employees without qualifications can be attractive for their workforces.

The industry, colleges and the catering associations need to join forces to ‘fight the fight’ for the next generations to come through. The stigma of long hours and poor pay needs to change in order to attract the new workforce that is so needed and prevent them leaving this amazing profession.

An appropriate working week is needed for both the industry to work and for employees to keep a work-life balance. This has been demonstrated in some high profile restaurants with reduced restaurant services, as there are not enough staff to cover them.

To address the growing concern, more employers need to collaborate with catering colleges in supporting the culinary and hospitality curriculum with the partnership of industry specialists. Employers should support the need for qualifications and send the future workforce back into colleges to gain their qualifications while gaining industry experience, which then helps to preserve opportunities within the hospitality sector.

Qualifications need to be held again in the highest esteem. Qualifications such as the 706/1 & 706/2 used to be recognised as worthy achievements.

Many hospitality staff provide so much to support for their students that is not recognised, with educational visits, work placement opportunities, guest speakers, and providing mentoring for the many competitions - a lot of this in their own time. With hours being cut year on year, but colleges still having to pack in the huge curriculum despite condensed funding allocated to the courses, it is no wonder colleges are in trouble.

Hospitality staff are stretched to the bare minimum, putting pressure on college lecturers, and in some cases prompting them to leave the education sector.

Colleges are desperate for increased government funding, longer hours to teach the students to industry standard, with industry employers supporting the curriculum. The continuous reduction of these will only increase the diminishing staff shortage.

If this is not addressed quickly, we can only expect fewer students to enter the profession, more college closures, and the hospitality industry seeing more business closures. Currently, it feels like a very bleak time ahead ...

You can meet the PACE team at the PSC Expo in November and find out more about their work and how they are positively shaping hospitality and catering education and training to the advantage of everyone.