Top Sheffield restaurant invests in future
ONE of Sheffield’s finest restaurants is tackling the skilled chef shortage in the hospitality industry head on by taking on its first apprentice.
Rafters restaurant – which is owned by Sheffielders Alistair Myers and Tom Lawson – have taken college student, Josh O’Reilly on board.
The 16-year-old student impressed the Rafters team with his mature attitude when they recently met at a Sheffield college open day.
This meeting led to Rafters offering him the chance to join the young kitchen team to help “develop the next generation of chefs”.
Josh says he is thrilled to be training with Alistair Myers and Tom Lawson, who also entered the industry as apprentices themselves.
“Tom and Alistair offered me a great opportunity that I simply could turn down,” says the apprentice.
“I love that fact the restaurant has such a strong and friendly team and offers such high quality food, I’ve always loved working with food and being able to learn new ways of cooking will be fantastic,” he added.
Alistair Myers, who works front of house at the award-winning restaurant said: “Apprenticeships are so important: they give real hands on experience of the industry and allow us as restaurateurs to develop a sustainable team, trained to the high standard we’re looking for.
“The industry as a whole is struggling with staff, with young people entering the trade at an all-time low, so it’s important to develop the next generation.
“Often, the restaurant trade is viewed as something you go for when there are no other options, but we strive to make it a career choice. Our love of training and developing our team is what sets us apart from our peers.”
