FEA offers free training to get back to work

The Foodservice Equipment Association (FEA) has offered 30 free places on its Certified Foodservice Professional (CFSP) accreditation course to those who have been made redundant from the hospitality industry during Covid-19.

The 30 free places went to a mix of foodservice equipment suppliers and operators, with the first course running in March 2021.

The CFSP: Open for Work course will feature the same content as the standard CFSP course and will be led by Graham Veal, founder and managing partner of GCA Management. Veal has worked in the foodservice industry for over 25 years and is an experienced business coach.

Jo Pullen, who started in the industry at a wholesale catering equipment business in 1999, was made redundant in October 2020. She said "Having been in the catering industry all of my career, I’ve never really had the opportunity to really 'understand' the foodservice industry and to see the many various functional co-relationships and interdependencies that exist within a foodservice operation.

“Now that I am redundant, I want to use this time effectively to attend this programme which, I hope, will give me a better chance of securing full-time employment.

“I believe it will also allow me to show that I have 'credibility'; that I am serious regarding the industry that I am so passionate about, and it’s not just about 'making the sale' – it's about developing and nurturing relationships."

Simon Frost, chair of FEA’s Education Advisory Group, said: “CFSP Open for Work is an opportunity for professionals looking to find new jobs after being made redundant. It’s relevant to everyone who has worked in foodservice, whether on the operator side of the industry or in the supply chain. We hope it will also encourage those people to stay in our industry – they already have skills and expertise that we need to hang on to, and CFSP will enhance those.”

FEA has released an additional 10 free places on the CFSP: Open for Work course, available exclusively to readers of The Caterer. To apply for one of these places, contact [lisa.jenkins@thecaterer.com](mailto: lisa.jenkins@thecaterer.com)