City of Glasgow College hosts regional finals of FutureChef competition

Aiming to find the UK’s best young chefs and industry stars, FutureChef is a schools-based programme that supports the development of key life skills while inspiring young people to pursue an exciting career within the world of hospitality.

The Central and Southern Scotland finals took place at City of Glasgow College on February 4, with seven students from across the region hoping to finesse their cooking abilities and progress into the national final, which takes place at Westminster Kingsway College in London on Monday, March 14.

‘Important programme’

Chris Gamm, CEO of Springboard, said: “With the hospitality sector taking a big hit over the last 18-months, the FutureChef competition is an important programme to introduce new young talent to the world of hospitality. It’s more important than ever to keep the idea of a career in hospitality at the forefront of students, teachers, and parents’ minds.

“Many well-known industry heavy weights have supported FutureChef, from Monica Galetti to Michel Roux Jr and Clare Smyth – it is simply a great steppingstone into the industry.

“We look forward to our FutureChef competitions every year, and love witnessing talented young individuals entering the industry and discovering their passions for what the sector has to offer. Competitions such as these are pivotal to the recovery of the sector, through the injection of talented and motivated individuals to the workforce and the promotion of the industry.”

How does the competition work?

The competition calls on young budding chefs across the region to compete and develop their culinary skills. Throughout the four-staged competition, young people in the Central and Southern Scotland heats will be introduced to important themes such as sustainability and plant-based and zero-waste cooking.

Since the FutureChef competition began in 1999, almost 200,000 young people aged 12-16 have taken part and learned how to cook, developing their skills and knowledge with many going on to establish themselves within the industry. Throughout this time, the competition has progressed and developed to form part of the overall FutureChef programme which offers industry links, online resources, module learning, careers advice and guidance, and a suite of teacher resources.