Marriott International has launched the Marriott Culinary Apprenticeship Academy, its first coordinated effort in the United Kingdom to train and offer young people a viable career in the culinary and hospitality industry.

The MCAA is one of a number of steps taken by Marriott International in Europe to ensure that young people have the opportunity for a prosperous career.  In addition to the MCAA, Marriott has launched a pilot Engineer apprenticeship programme in London, which recruited three young people to learn the ropes, and is currently working to take the success of its Government Youth Contracts in Scotland nationwide.

"With the youth unemployment figure in the UK at nearly 1 million, we recognise the need to open up opportunities to people and ensure they have the training and support they need to help them excel in their careers," said Bridgett Price, chief human resources officer for Marriott International in Europe.  "With exciting development and growth opportunities within our hotels in Europe comes the need for skilled people to take the hospitality industry forward.  The big drive for us is making young people aware of the opportunities we can offer and showing them that this is an exciting industry with real career progression."

Through the MCAA, Marriott will train 15 young apprentices to NVQ level 2 on the eighteen month programme, aiming to increase the number to thirty the following year.  The programme has been created in tandem with the training provider Babcock to ensure that the apprentices receive the most up-to-date and relevant training to help them develop the skills they will need to progress in their careers.  All of the apprentices that successfully complete the programme will be awarded a guaranteed position as a commis chef in a Marriott hotel in the UK.

In addition to these new coordinated programmes, Marriott hotels across Europe continue to offer apprenticeships in all areas of the business.  For many apprentices, the support and high standard of vocational training enables them to become leaders in their fields.  An apprentice from the Renaissance Dusseldorf hotel in Germany recently took up the role of front office clerk at the Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa in Thailand having excelled in her professional exams and winning a Special Recognition Award at the 2011 Apprenticeship Conference in Cologne.

As well as apprenticeship opportunities, Marriott International works with The Prince's Trust and SOS Children's Villages to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds reach their full potential by providing life skills and vocational opportunities.  Through "World of Opportunity," Marriott International's 280 hotels across Europe fundraise, volunteer, and facilitate in-kind donations to sponsor and support educational and employability programmes run by the two charitable partners to help tackle youth unemployment.