Former AA College Restaurant of the Year to close due to government cuts
The first college to win the AA College Restaurant of the Year award in 2016, Runshaw College's Foxholes restaurant, has closed due to government cuts.
A spokesperson for the Lancashire college, which counts two-Michelin-starred Moor Hall chef-patron Mark Birchall among its alumni, said the costs of running a college training restaurant are "extremely high" and "due to nine consecutive years of government cuts to further education funding in England", the restaurant will be closing its doors after 31 years.
The spokesperson added: "We would like to thank our customers for the magnificent loyalty and support that they have shown to our multi-award-winning training restaurant Foxholes during the last 31 years, and we also want to thank our students and staff for their exceptional skill and dedication, helping Foxholes to be consistently rated as the number one restaurant in Leyland.
"We will of course continue to campaign for fairer funding for the FE sector and members of the public can express their support for this campaign by Tweeting, using the #LoveOurColleges hashtag."
The college confirmed it would continue to offer a full-time level two chef training course to students aged 16-19 at its Runshaw Chef School as well as train apprentice chefs at restaurants, hotels and other organisations in the local community.
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