Barchester Healthcare is once again leading the way with its new hospitality apprenticeship initiative. To mark this exciting milestone, Barchester held a launch event at Xcelerate with Edgbaston which brought together enthusiastic learners from across the country to celebrate the beginning of their journey. The event highlighted the company’s commitment and passion to promoting the value of hospitality within the care sector.
50 employees are currently enrolling onto the hospitality apprenticeship programme, covering career pathways from kitchen assistants to senior head chefs. The apprenticeship programme runs alongside Barchester’s well-established Chef Academy, a hugely successful initiative which is in its sixth year. The new hospitality apprenticeship programme will further enhance career progression and create a clear pathway for future development. Barchester has partnered with HIT training, a market leading specialist apprenticeship and training provider in the UK’s hospitality industry, to ensure the programme is delivered to an exceptional standard.
The launch provided the 2026 cohort with the opportunity to meet one another, connect with the support team and partner, HIT Training. The event also gave the learners valuable insight into what the year ahead will involve, including how the apprenticeship programme can support and broaden their career development. During the launch event a number of learners had to opportunity to showcase their skills by preparing and delivering a beautifully presented lunch.
Martin Hall, Senior Head Chef, shared: “I am so pleased to be a part of the Hospitality Apprenticeship on the Leadership pathway, I am excited to see the ways my career can flourish. This launch event has been a great way of introducing myself and meeting fellow students.”
A number of the Barchester team had the opportunity to share a few words during the event, Sarah Clifford, Head of Apprenticeships and Digital Learning System commented: “This is not only a first for Barchester but a first for the care sector, Barchester is once again leading the way with our ground-breaking apprenticeship
programmes. I am delighted to say that we now have a bespoke Hospitality Apprenticeship programme that will deliver exactly what we need for our hospitality teams, across three different levels of development.”
Chief Operating Officer, Natasha Lazovic added: “We are very lucky to be in a sector in growth and Barchester itself is growing all the time. We have many stars within our business but we always have room for more. I know that our new apprentices will take full advantage of the opportunities this first-class training will give them. I’m excited to see where their new skills take them within our business.”
Natasha Lazovic, Chief Operating Officer, Barchester Healthcare