City of Glasgow College has received a special industry award in recognition of its excellence in training the top chefs of tomorrow.
The college earned praise from the Craft Guild of Chefs, the UK’s leading chefs’ association, for its many achievements during the last 12 months, including the success of students at a canapé competition at Buckingham Palace and one of its staff chefs being named the best in Britain.
The fact that City of Glasgow College provides kitchen facilities and management to stage practical heats of the renowned international skills competition WorldSkills also weighed in its favour with the awards panel.
Paul Little, Principal and CEO of City of Glasgow College, said: “It is an honour to be recognised by such a prestigious body as the Craft Guild of Chefs. This award reflects our continued commitment to excellence in our teaching and learning and further confirmation of our status as the number one college in the UK for WorldSkills. It is also rewarding to see our very talented team in hospitality and catering being recognised among the very best in the industry.”
Gary Maclean and Mikaela WrightThe college is the only Scottish institution to receive the honour, which was bestowed just a matter of months before the completion of City of Glasgow College’s new £228million twin-site supercampus. The state-of-the-art City Campus, featuring world-class facilities for the education of hospitality and cookery professionals, will open to students and staff in August and will complement Riverside Campus, a leading training centre for engineering and marine studies that was opened by Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in October last year.
Willie McCurrach, Curriculum Head for Food at City of Glasgow College, said: “We are so proud that our college’s commitment to excellence in hospitality and cookery education has been judged to be the very best in our profession. It is great to see our success in competitions at home and abroad being held up as exemplary. To be the only organisation in Scotland to be commended is also a real privilege.”
At the 2015 Craft Guild of Chefs awards, City of Glasgow College senior staff member Gary MacLean was named UK Lecturer of the Year after leading a student team to victory in a canapé competition at Buckingham Palace. After impressing a judging panel including HRH The Countess of Wessex and royal chef Mark Flanagan, the team, led by Gary, went on to prepare finger food for esteemed guests at St James’s Palace to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Craft Guild of Chefs.
Student Mikaela Wright flew the flag for City of Glasgow College as part of Team UK at the WorldSkills 2015 finals in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The 20-year-old Patisserie student competed alongside entrants from 59 different countries in front of 250,000 spectators and emerged with a Medallion of Excellence. City of Glasgow College is the number one college in Worldskills UK, having performed best of all institutions at The Skills Show in Birmingham in November 2015.
Established in 1965, the Craft Guild of Chefs aims to increase standards of professional cooking through greater awareness, education and training.