St Austell Brewery has celebrated National Apprenticeship Week in style, bringing together apprentices past and present, alongside their business and academic mentors, for a special Big Apprentice Lunch at the company’s Visitor Centre in St Austell.

The special lunch was designed to showcase the diverse range of apprenticeships now available at St Austell Brewery, including Lower and Higher-level Chef apprenticeships, Hospitality Apprenticeships, Business Administration, Engineering and Finance, delivered alongside academic partners such as Truro and Penwith College.

The event was also an opportunity to recognise those who had graduated, inspire those who had just started and reward the efforts of those currently in-course through the delivery of key awards for outstanding apprentices.

St Austell Brewery People Director Tamsyn Hawkins said: “With over 30 apprentices now working with us, this is the ideal time to celebrate such an important part of our business. Apprenticeships have become a central part of our people development strategy. The new qualifications offer real career training opportunities, meaning we can offer them as a form of development at all levels and across multiple functions and, working with Truro and Penwith College, we can much more clearly plan our growth strategy knowing that we have a pool of young talent working towards coming on board with us.”

Tom Moran, Truro & Penwith College's customer development manager, said: “It was an honour to be a part of the Apprenticeship Week celebrations at St Austell Brewery, recognising the impact and dedication of their apprentices enjoying their roles and training through the brewery and Truro and Penwith College.”

“The apprentices too had a lot to celebrate - working in some of the best, vibrant learning environments across a variety of sites, mentored by talented chefs and tutors using the latest techniques and premium produce.

“It’s an apprentice programme and partnership that has gone from strength to strength and we’re hugely proud of it and the talent that it unleashes into the hospitality industry. We look forward to continuing working with St Austell Brewery as it enters an exciting period of growth and development.”

At the special Big Lunch, prepared with the help of current Brewery chef apprentice Felix Rowe, Chief Executive James Staughton gave out two awards for outstanding performance.

The first, for Retail Apprentice of the Year went to Rebekah Wilson – Evans, who joined the company in 2017 on a level 2 qualification as a Commis Chef apprentice and now works at the Brewery’s Rose & Crown pub in Yealmpton. Presenting the award, James said: Rebekah has made great strides at the beginning of her career within our company, earning praise and respect from her colleagues along the way.

“Her desire to gain more experience, stretch the limits of her knowledge and further develop her skills, led her to undertake a job share towards the end of last year and this has culminated in her accepting an exciting new role as a fulltime Chef de Partie, moving permanently to a new site with a more challenging menu and enabling her to embark on a level 3 qualification from Easter.”

Picking up Head Office Apprentice of the Year was Haydn Rogers, now working towards a Level 4 Engineering Apprenticeship within the company.

James Staughton described Haydn as “a shining example of how an apprenticeship journey should unfold.”

Joining the company as an apprentice back in 2013, Haydn completed the initial level 3 qualification, earned himself a full-time role within the Engineering team and has now embarked on a level 4 apprenticeship with St Austell Brewery, already drawing praise from his tutor, who remarked: “If all students were as good as he, it would be an ideal world.”

For more information about becoming an apprentice with St Austell Brewery, visit www.staustellbrewerycareers.co.uk.