Crown Spa Hotel and Scarborough TEC celebrate National Apprenticeship Week 2017

Staff at The Crown Spa Hotel, Scarborough, are celebrating National Apprenticeship Week 2017 thanks to their collaboration with Yorkshire Coast College who have been working to upskill the hotel’s workforce through the Skills Support for the Workforce scheme, funded by the European Social Fund and the Skills Funding Agency.

Yorkshire Coast College is relocating to a new campus at Filey Road, in Scarborough, from September with a refocused programme of courses and a new identity, Scarborough TEC, offering routes to Apprenticeships, University and Careers.

The Crown Spa Hotel is now taking advantage of a new service being offered to Small-to-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through the college, Yorkshire Apprenticeship Hub, which offers impartial advice and guidance around Apprenticeships for employers and advice on training which can lead to a pre-Apprenticeship programme for both young people and adults.

Karen Leah, Project Coordinator for Yorkshire Apprenticeship Hub, explained:  “Yorkshire Apprenticeship Hub is a fantastic project that was commissioned by the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and is part-funded by the European Social Fund.

“We’re delighted to be able to offer this service to businesses in our region and have recently launched a new website, yorshireapprenticeshiphub.co.uk, which is a first-rate resource for SMEs.”

Nicola Shipton, Human Resources Assistant for the Crown Spa Hotel, explained why the hotel were keen to train their staff through the programmes.  Nicola said: “Apprenticeships are just one of the ways we are looking after our staff and it helps them to understand all about our industry.  We have a fantastic bond and a great relationship with the college and they are an excellent organisation to work with.”

Two of the hotel’s employees who are already benefitting from both the Skills Support for the Workforce scheme and Yorkshire Apprenticeship Hub, Ashleigh Day and Shane Davies, have grown in confidence through the training which has now led to them preparing to start Apprenticeships in Hospitality.

Twenty-year-old Ashleigh, a Trainee Food and Beverage Server, had previously trained in Childcare but has turned her passion for cooking food into a career.  Ashleigh said: “Going through an Apprenticeship is going to be fantastic for my career.  I didn’t do very well in my GCSEs so to be able to show that I have achieved a qualification will prove that I have the skills that I need to progress.

“Apprenticeships get you involved in the workplace, working with people who’ve been doing the job for twenty or thirty years.  They help you become an independent employee and getting paid for that is just an added bonus.”

Shane Davies, 31, has worked in the hospitality industry since leaving school and is now the Crown Spa Hotel’s Restaurant Supervisor having progressed through a Level 3 Apprenticeship in Hospitality & Supervision.

“I’m 31-years-old and I’d always associated Apprenticeships with people who had left school or were in their early 20s; I didn’t realise it was an option for me. It wasn’t until I started working at the hotel that I was made aware I could do this qualification at my age and I jumped at the chance.

“I’ve picked up skills in the industry throughout the years but to now be getting this qualification has given me a real sense of achievement and has given me motivation to go further.  I enjoy learning new skills that have helped me move my career forwards.  I now want to go onto a Level 4 qualification and hopefully move into the management side of the industry.”

For more information about Yorkshire Apprenticeship Hub and how the service can help your business, visit yorkshireapprenticeshiphub.co.uk, call (01723) 256288 or email [email protected]