Skills olympics to boost sector
I'm not alone when I highlight Britain's failure to develop skilled workers in the food industry. But, it's not just a failure to educate - it's also a failure to inspire people.
In 2011, London is hosting World Skills, the biggest international skills competition in the world. It will bring together more than 800 young people from over 49 countries across the globe to compete in skills ranging from welding to web design and most importantly for us - cookery, bakery and confectionery.
The competitors will combine their hearts, hands and minds to pitch their team skills against the best each country has to offer as they fight it out for gold, silver and bronze medals. And the event will attract hundreds of thousands of visitors over four days of tough competition.
A number of unsung heroes will give their valuable time and expertise to ensure that team GB gets off to a good start and thereby help to create a new generation of experienced chefs, bakers and confectioners. The likes of Martin Nail, head chef at Claridge's, and Michael Godfrey, head chef at Eton College, for example, will help mentor our team as well as taking part in the judging.
Established in 1950, World Skills is an international not-for-profit organisation comprising 49 member countries, dedicated to raising the status and standards of vocational education and training worldwide. The Competition is held every two years and is hosted by a different member country each time. In 2009 it's in Calgary, Canada, before London 2011.
For the young people taking part, it's an invaluable and unique learning experience. It provides the very motivation and inspiration required to raise standards. What's more, World Skills competitions set the standards for the national vocational curricula of participating nations. City and Guilds will be a sponsor for the event.
Mark Rigby is senior business development chef for Premier Foods
