Damson restaurant launches partnership with Salford City College
Restaurateur Steve Pilling of the Damson brand has teamed up with Salford City College to launch a £7m cutting edge restaurant and training project in the heart of MediaCityUK.
FutureSkills, Salford City College's advanced skills centre, will feed learners into the new Damson project, which will includes a £1m, 140-seat fine dining restaurant alongside training facilities and a low energy kitchen.
Intended to become a national hub of excellence for the hospitality and catering sector, attracting hundreds of students each year, the scheme is the vision of Graham Pennington, deputy chief executive at Salford City College.
Pennington said he is delighted to have secured the partnership with Pilling and the team at Damson.
"MediaCityUK is the perfect home for such an innovative project and this combined with Salford City College's reputation for high quality training ensures a highly successful partnership. We are excited about the new training opportunities that both FutureSkills and Damson will bring to MediaCityUK and we are sure that it will attract learners from throughout Greater Manchester and beyond due to its unique offer and quality provision".
Pilling, who runs Damson restaurant in Heaton Moor, Cheshire, and the Red Lion, High Lane, Cheshire, said: "The whole project is now nearing completion and we just can't wait to get started. Salford City College should be congratulated for their vision, passion and hard work in ensuring the industry has not just a national centre of excellence for our young people, but actually one we can safely say aspires to be world-class.
"This will be the perfect environment for students to truly learn and master their craft as well as gain knowledge on the increasingly important elements of running a sustainable and environmentally-friendly ‘next-generation' kitchen. It's great news for young people with career aspirations, the North West hospitality sector and the industry as a whole."
Damson restaurant at MediaCityUK will officially open in January 2013.
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