Member Article

Michelin chef looks for new stars

North East TV celebrity chef, Kenny Atkinson is putting jobs on the menu for up to five lucky youngsters who can demonstrate an appetite for success.

The double Michelin starred chef will soon open his new restaurant; House of Tides on Newcastle Quayside in the first two floors of a five-storey listed building dating back to the 16th Century.

Buttress House at The Close is a familiar sight on the Quayside and Kenny intends to decorate the inside to complement the historic building’s rustic look. With an open kitchen and table views over looking the river, Kenny’s vision is soon set to become a reality.

“The restaurant will be a stripped back fine dining experience for the people of the North East. I wanted to continue producing high quality food using the very best of our local larder, but set out within a friendly, warm & fun environment. Keeping our price point at a certain level will allow us to offer fine dining to the masses rather than the minority. I want my guests to enjoy themselves which will see more chef to guest interaction.” he said.

“However, before I can do that, I need to add one further vital ingredient to the recipe and that’s a good team in both front of house and kitchen roles.” To help him in his recruitment quest, Kenny has turned to family member Nick Atkinson who is the National Sales Manager at Team Valley based training providers Business Impact UK.

“This is a great opportunity for local talent to work alongside an award winning chef right here in Newcastle. Opportunities like this don’t come along very often and we now have the pleasure of finding up to five young people to become Kenny’s apprentices.”

Business Impact UK Ltd was formed to work nationally with companies of all sizes to identify their training needs and help them to recruit and train young apprentices. The firm will be providing a full recruitment screening programme as well as delivering the relevant apprenticeships and securing funding on Kenny’s behalf to assist the programme as the venture gets off the ground.

The lucky candidates will learn new practical and professional skills, complete on the job training and gain nationally recognised qualifications whilst working at the same time.

“One of the advantages of taking on an apprentice aged between 16 to 18 years old, is that there is no cost to the employer thanks to the funding that we can source for them, “ he said. “A government grant of £1500 is also available to smaller companies with less than 1000 employees to encourage them to take on younger apprentices. We’re expecting to be flooded with applications for the apprenticeships on offer at House of Tides and we at Business Impact UK will be handling every aspect of the recruitment process.”

The only way to register interest is through the Apprentice Improvement Team via e-mail at rebecca.arnison@improvementteam.co.uk or by calling 07881364570 for more information.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Highlights PR .