2 September 2021
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Radisson Cork and The iNUA Collection introduces exciting new Professional Cookery Traineeship
Calling aspiring chefs who would like to improve their career prospects while also working on the job… Ireland’s largest regional hotel group, The iNUA Collection has a deep commitment to team development across its properties all over the country. The iNUA Collection is delighted to announce a new programme that puts that focus firmly on the consistent learning and development culture throughout the kitchens of the iNUA brand, targeting chefs at all levels.
They are now launching a new two-year Professional Cookery Traineeship in association with Limerick Clare Education & Training Board, designed to lead to a QQI Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Professional Cookery, a qualification recognised on the National Framework of Qualifications.
With the first uptake of students this September, the iNUA Professional Cookery Traineeship in association with the Limerick Clare ETB is a two-year full-time course, including 13 weeks per year classroom-based learning at the College of Further Education and Training Hospitality Campus in Roxboro, Limerick, and workplace learning within the iNUA Collection.
Stefan Matz, Group Executive Chef at The iNUA Collection with teenagers Keelan O’Brien, Leamlara, Jay McCrossan Donnachie, Cobh, Amy McCrossan Donnachie, Cobh, Clodagh O’Regan, Little Island,
Pic: Darragh Kane
Stefan Matz, Group Executive Chef of The iNUA Collection has worked closely with the Limerick Clare Education Training Board to put together this exciting new Professional Cookery Traineeship. “It has been a pleasure working with Bernadette Enright, the programme coordinator at LCETB, and her team to develop this programme,” says Stefan Matz, Group Executive Head Chef of The iNUA Collection, “which will be of such enormous use and impact to the chefs who go through these two years. The LCETB’s flexibility and support in accommodating our requirements has been immense and much appreciated.”
The topics covered as part of the college blocks in the first year in Limerick include Culinary Food Safety Management, Culinary Techniques, Gastronomy, Pastry Baking and Desserts and Work Practice, and in the second year, International Cuisines, Hospitality Business Systems, Menu Design and Applied Nutrition, Producing a Culinary Event and Work Practice.
The iNUA Collection plans to send two students per each of their hotels including Radisson Cork on this programme and for each two-week block, they will be given full board in the Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa in Limerick. The target audience for this programme is the group’s current team of employees who wish to access a career path into chef and culinary roles. However, The iNUA Collection are also recruiting externally to fill these traineeship opportunities.
If you are a chef or someone interested in pursuing a culinary career apply for this exciting new iNUA Collection Professional Cookery Traineeship in association with Limerick Clare Education & Training Board. The entry criteria require that you have either successfully completed a programme leading to a QQI Level 5 Certificate or can demonstrate the levels of knowledge, skill and competence associated with NFQ Level 5 to be eligible to apply for this programme.
“Personally, I was drawn to the hospitality industry for the opportunity of working in a creative and busy team environment,” says Stefan Matz, Group Executive Head Chef of The iNUA Collection. “Selecting the right first employer who provided the necessary foundation training was for me crucial and still remains a key element to any successful career. I completed a two-year traineeship very similar to this Professional Cookery Traineeship which subsequently allowed me to travel and work around the world, to represent Ireland here and abroad, to open and run my own hotel & restaurants and to lead large culinary teams win demanding five-star resorts and groups of hotels. Becoming a chef opened the doors to the world for me and there aren’t many other professions and industries offering as many opportunities and rewards as the hospitality industry and the culinary world within.”
“I’m looking forward to the impact this two-year course will have on our kitchens across the iNUA brand,” he continues. “Providing a career platform for our teams and future employees, developing the skills of our existing teams to fulfil career aspirations and allowing teams to gain qualifications while working for iNUA, the Professional Cookery Traineeship in association with Limerick Clare Education & Training Board will also increase retention, attract new team members to our kitchens and increase the skills set within our operations, building our next generation culinary teams and leaders. The iNUA Collection is passionate about people, and this new Professional Cookery Traineeship recognises iNUA as a leader in the industry and an employer of choice for learning and developing who invests in growing talent. This is a first step for us in the process of re-establishing training in the industry, to increase the skills levels within kitchens in general and to attract more people in Ireland into pursuing a culinary career.”
Learn Evolve Thrive at The iNUA Collection. For further information on the iNUA Collection Professional Cookery Traineeship in association with Limerick Clare Education & Training Board please see https://www.inua.ie/learning-development/ or email careers@inuahospitality.ie
