Hospitality jobs festival gets results country-wide

Anne Walker, managing director of Springboard UK, described last week's second annual hospitality careers festival as "fantastic".

The festival, designed to raise the profile of hospitality and encourage people to choose it as a career, was launched at London's Chelsea Village on 2 October. Walker said it was supported by more than 660 organisations, with over 1,000 events staged during the week.

These ranged from job fairs to contests such as the Future Chef competition at Westminster College in London. It was won by 15-year-old Alicia Hyacinth from the Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College in London.

Events in Scotland included a Dish of the Day contest in St Andrews, Fife, where local chefs revisited former schools to cook a dish, and a University Challenge competition at Newtonmore University in Inverness-shire.

In Wales, the Cardiff Hilton hosted a careers event for the over-50s and in Newtown, Powys, children held a Ready, Steady, Cook competition.