New East London hospitality school to create a ‘pipeline’ of talent to the industry

An East London local authority is set to launch a hospitality training institution to “create a pipeline of talent for the sector”.

The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Council is seeking industry views to help shape the offer of the new food school, which hopes to tackle the sector’s workforce crisis

Council leader councillor Darren Rodwell said: “The food sector’s workforce crisis has been well-documented in recent years,” adding he hopes the new school will ensure a “pipeline of talent” for the industry.

Focusing on world cuisine, the new school will launch in partnership with food sustainability business Sustainable Kitchen Consultants and Barking & Dagenham College.

He also said he hopes the school will also meet the needs of London’s diverse communities, adding how London’s food market is global in outlook but “the capital’s training offer is geared heavily towards traditional, Cordon Bleu food”.

Rodwell said this “typically Eurocentric” approach in hospitality training results in many young people not seeing their cultures reflected in culinary schools or colleges.

The council is working with local schools to develop a new approach to food education that reflects the borough’s population. According to the 2021 Census, almost 26% of the population identifies as Asian, while 21% identifies as Black.

Rodwell said: “Only 12% of head chefs in Michelin-starred restaurants are from a Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, and only around 15% of London’s chefs are female.”

Alongside hoping to add more world cuisines to schools’ and colleges’ culinary curriculum, the food school will also seek to educate young people on sustainability in the industry, from sourcing more local ingredients to reducing emissions and waste.

Rodwell said: “The new food school is in the early stages of development – but our vision is to create a food offer that places London above Paris, New York and Singapore for the diversity and sustainability of its cuisine.

The relationship with the wholesale food markets alongside London’s restaurants and other food businesses creates an opportunity of a lifetime to support the capital’s ambitions to be a world leader.”

The programme is part of the council’s new Good Food Plan which aims to improve access to healthy and sustainable food.