SWAPs locations for hospitality training revealed
SWAPs aim to help people into jobs in hospitality.
Following plans to roll out hospitality Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) to 26 new areas in need of jobs, trade body UKHospitality has announced which areas will be running the initiative.
Run in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), SWAPs aim to help people into jobs in hospitality and provide them with a Hospitality Skills Passport.
The areas set to benefit from the hospitality SWAP programme are:
- East: Great Yarmouth, Norwich, Skegness, Suffolk
- Midlands: Birmingham, Coventry
- North: Blackpool, Cumbria, Liverpool, Manchester, Scarborough
- South East: Banbury, Bournemouth, East Kent, Guildford, Gravesham, London, Mid Kent, Milton Keynes, North Kent, Reading, Worthing
- South West: Exeter, Solent, Torbay, Truro and Penwith
How does it work?
The new programme trains jobseekers with hospitality skills in a working environment and provides them with both work experience and a guaranteed interview with a choice of employers. The companies, operating both nationally and locally, are working with Jobcentre Plus and local training providers.
Successful participants will also receive a new Hospitality Skills Passport, an innovative, digital transferable award that demonstrates competence and qualifications. The passport is certified by OCN London, an awarding organisation, and accredited by UKHospitality.
Hospitality businesses operating in any of the areas listed are able to get involved, and interested parties can register their interest using the form on this website.
"This is an incredibly exciting programme that we’re leading, in partnership with DWP, and it is proven to deliver tangible benefits for both jobseekers and hospitality businesses," says Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality. "Our hospitality SWAP programme will operate right across England, demonstrating hospitality’s ability to help people into employment in every part of the country.
"The programme’s delivery of a Hospitality Skills Passport is critical in providing recruits with a way to demonstrate their qualifications and avoid duplication of training for employers. I urge any hospitality business operating in any of the 26 areas to get in touch and register their interest to get involved."
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