Three students from the world-class Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, located just outside Paris, arrived in Aberdeen this week to take part in an 8 week programme, working in two popular city centre hotels.
The students will work in the city centre based Carmelite Hotel and The Chester Hotel located in Aberdeen’s west end. Alongside gaining valuable experience in the Scottish hospitality industry, the students will also attend the North East College Scotland throughout the programme, to work alongside Aberdeen’s talented future chefs and hospitality graduates.
The scheme has been established in collaboration with the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, The Aberdeen City and Shire Hotels’ Association (ACSHA), North East Scotland College and Aberdeen Inspired, with the aim to build a strong link with the French Institute and create a student exchange to help inspire future talent.
The prestigious Auguste Escoffier School already has established links with other European institutes in Spain, Germany, Finland and the Czech Republic and hope to develop their first UK link in the Granite City.
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: “We are delighted to welcome the talented students to the Granite City and hope that they enjoy their experience in the city’s vibrant and diverse hospitality industry. We hope that this collaborative scheme with the Escoffier School will open up a host of opportunities for our local students and encourage many more to consider pursuing a career in the hospitality industry.”
Stephen Gow, general manager at The Chester Hotel commented: “The placement of the French students at The Chester Hotel will give them broad and valuable insights into the service culture at a high calibre hotel like ours. First-hand experience in a welcoming Scottish environment will also be complementary to their professional learning at Escoffier.”
Gary Atkinson, owner of the Carmelite Hotel and the chair of ACSHA, is full of praise for the initiative commenting: “When we learned of The Escoffier’s desire to place three students in Aberdeen, the ACSHA was very keen to help facilitate this move. We believe strongly that training our younger employees is the key to building a stronger management team for the years to come. Our ambition is to have a long-term relationship with The Escoffier, establishing a full exchange program by next year.”
Brian Dunn, head of faculty for Social Sciences, Tourism and Hospitality at NESCOL is delighted to welcome the three students and commented: “NESCOL has a great reputation for producing young talent who can go on to develop fantastic careers in the North-east hospitality sector. We look forward to a successful programme and we are already looking ahead to next year where we hope to develop the programme into a full exchange programme with our own students travelling to Paris to experience the amazing world of hospitality in the French capital.”
