Eastleigh College’s Hospitality and Catering team have emerged victorious in the Professional Association of Catering Education (PACE) awards, taking home the accolade for Outstanding Teaching Team of the Year. This comes days after confirmation that Chef Lecturer Greg Cheeseman has been nominated in the Catering College category of the Public Sector Catering (PSC) awards 2022.

PACE is the representative body for the UK Hospitality industry and its annual awards have been recognising the efforts and successes of colleges across the nation for two decades. 2022 marks its twentieth year in operation, with all entries judged by an independent panel comprised of suppliers, sponsors and industry experts. Criteria for the Outstanding Teaching Team of the Year award included evidence for continual commitment to learning and a demonstrable impact of teaching upon students and colleagues across not only the department, but the wider College itself.

Sue Lyons, Hospitality Lead at Eastleigh College, said: “I am delighted with this result and for the team I think it’s brilliant to have all our hard work over the past year recognised on a national stage like this. We’ve never won a team award through PACE and to secure one now feels like a fitting tribute to what has been an excellent academic year for the department.”

This result follows the exciting news that Eastleigh College Chef Lecturer Greg Cheeseman will be competing for the Catering College crown in the PSC awards. This accolade recognises the exceptional work of individuals or teams in delivering outstanding learner results, supporting learners to achieve their aims and inspiring career pathways into the hospitality industry. The PSC awards will be held at the Hilton London Metropole on 7^th April 2022 and updates of this will be provided through our College social media platforms.

Achievements like these reflect a very strong eighteen months for the Hospitality and Catering department, alongside the World Skills success, Pearson National Teaching Awards recognition, and commercial partnerships that have been formed. The team’s hard work was further recognised in the College recently progressing to the next round of the national Young Restaurant Team of the Year Competition, following a successful paper-based entry. The ensuing round will be hosted on the College site later this month.

Networking is another critical aspect of the catering industry and the department has been proactive in arranging regular guest visits to provide learners with valuable culinary experience alongside established professionals. Last week the College were pleased to welcome catering staff from The PIG in the New Forest, who helped learners recreate some of their classic organic recipes using locally sourced produce.

James Golding, Group Chef Director at The PIG, spoke following the visit: “We wanted to do a menu which would familiarise learners with different culinary techniques, such as slow cooking, setting with jelly and grazing. It’s always great coming back to East Avenue, the facilities and kitchen are of an excellent standard. The learners were brilliant and all did exceptionally well.”

More details on PACE can be found on their official website: www.paceuk.org.

For a full list of our Hospitality and Catering course offerings, please click here.

For any further information, please contact the College at BeBetter@eastleigh.ac.uk.