Great British Bake Off 2016 winner Candice Brown spoke to The Morning Advertiser about using her platform to promote apprenticeships in the hospitality sector.
Brown was attending a hospitality apprenticeship showcase
event at the House of Commons last week during National Apprentice Week (NAW).
Speakers at the event said it was crucial career opportunities in the pub business are promoted as viable alternatives to higher education, especially given staff shortages.
She explained to The Morning Advertiser: “I was lucky enough to be part of the Great British Bake Off 2016 which I won, giving me a platform and a bit more of an insight into the hospitality sector.
“I grew up in pubs, my mum and dad ran pubs for 25 years, so it really is in my blood. “More recently, myself and my brother have bought our own pub and are now running it.”
Different routes
Before her success as a TV chef, Brown taught PE at a school in Hertfordshire, which gave her an understanding that different career options should be promoted to young people.
She said: “I was also a teacher as well, in secondary school so I understand that school, college, university isn’t actually for everybody, sitting behind a desk being spoken at isn’t everyone’s way of learning.
“And, actually, apprenticeships are an incredible way forward and apprenticeships in hospitality are where you can learn so many different skills.
“There are so many different levels of progression and ways that you can learn and achieve. I don’t think that there are many other industries where you can do that.
“It is really important to celebrate and promote the importance of apprenticeships in hospitality.”
Chance to change
Brown added: “If you have a passion for something and you have an enjoyment for something then you should pursue that. There’s never a never. There’s time to change, you make the wrong decision, you decide that’s not for you, you can change.
“I did that, I did that a couple of times. I did that most recently a few years ago when I left a teaching career to pursue a career in hospitality.
“I did have – and do have – an incredible platform but I also work very, very hard and am continually learning.”
She concluded: “So if you have a passion, if you have drive and you have ambition, follow that.
“Everybody is different and there are different routes for everybody so do something you love because you spend a lot of your time at your work. So you need to enjoy it and you need to love it.
Brown is set to open her gastropub the Green Man in Eversholt, Bedfordshire, sometime this month.
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