Springboard is showcasing careers in hospitality, leisure and tourism to 1,200 students through a series of 10 career hub days across the months of May and June, 2021.

Each digital career hub will contain 120 pupils between the ages 17 and 18, from six schools across a series of regions, including London, the Midlands, Northern Ireland and Scotland.Three career hubs have already taken place in Bristol, Manchester and Wales. 

These three hubs have featured an introduction to careers in hospitality, an employer spotlight and advice on personal qualities, applying for work and interview skills, as well as talks from Springboard ambassadors.

The career hubs are day-long events, delivered digitally and made up of 4 sessions focussing on careers in hospitality. Students gain a host of skills and knowledge that will give them an advantage when looking for opportunities in the hospitality industry.

Case Studies

Abigail Connolly

Putting the skills that she attained at the University College Birmingham to test, Abigail Connolly is now a student turned owner and operator at Arch 13. Arch 13 (at Connolly’s Wine Shop) is a wine and cheese bar that continues to demonstrate the art of mocktail making to over 110 students. Abigail Connolly’s training and work experience alongside the likes of Glyn

Purnell has strengthened her expertise in wines and spirits, thus making her a trailblazer as the only certified female wine sommelier in Birmingham. Here is Abigail’s career journey in her own words:

 “It was a pleasure to work with Springboard on this important initiative, highlighting career opportunities within hospitality and helping young people find their career path.” 

– Abigail Connolly

Christopher Smith

Christopher Smith is an established lecturer of Hospitality and Catering at South Birmingham College. He simultaneously supports the hospitality industry by working with Birmingham’s local high schools to promote their courses offered to the youth. Of his experience, Smith said,

“Thank you to you and all your staff for working so hard to put together such an amazing day. Lots of the students have already said how much they enjoyed it and felt it had made them more confident to apply for work. The Arch 13  bit was especially good, as it is in Birmingham they can relate to it and we have worked with Glyn Purnell in the past.”

– Christopher Smith

Career Resources

As part of the careers resources, Springboard has developed a video resource that seeks to give young people an insight into their careers – the latest one focuses on the role of a chef. With career resources like this, Springboard and culinary professionals can work together to help young people at entry level roles in the kitchen learn how to progress through the ranks to a fulfilling career as a chef, for example. Watch this YouTube video here to learn more about Roles in the Kitchen.

Springboard Careers and Education programmes form the initial outreach point of the Springboard 2022 initiative, which will, by the end of 2022, support 10,000 young people as they venture into careers in the hospitality industry. Projections show that it is expected that 1.5m young people will be unemployed across 2021 at a time of crisis in our industry. The impact of COVID-19 on young people has no doubt raised concerns on the future of their careers, particularly if their career relies on an industry that has been adversely affected by COVID-19 itself. With 97% of young people not considering the industry as a career choice, the work Springboard does to engage and inspire young people in schools has never been more important for the future of our industry. It is crucial that we work together to underpin and support the talent pipeline and thereby future proof our industry whilst simultaneously addressing chef shortages – which we will expect to arise again.

More than ever, we need to keep hospitality careers at the forefront of the students’ career options; by equipping them with the basic skills and knowledge that they need, we can ensure that we have enthusiastic and talented young chefs entering the industry.

Together with our hard work and dedication to the work we continue to do in schools, we are confident that the industry will no doubt bounce back. We will be ready with an inspired, fresh pool of talent.