This website has been put together to provide a free online resource to those wishing to change or find a new career in catering.

We are a group of volunteers who all have catering backgrounds and have worked in the industry from the ground up. Feel free to explore this site which has great articles as well as links to further resources.

Within catering there are lots of different areas. You can work in the kitchens preparing or cooking food, you can work in restaurants, hospitals, sandwich shops, fine dining, corporate events and even mobile catering. There are catering courses covering all the culinary areas from basic food hygiene, menu planning, teamwork and even catering management courses.

Working in catering can be very challenging, demanding and often fast paced. However it can also be very rewarding and fulfilling. There’s nothing quite like the feeling at the end of a busy Saturday night shift that customers have enjoyed your food and you have made magic moments for your very special guests that will last a lifetime.

There are BTEC qualifications, diplomas, college degrees, online courses, distance courses and professional culinary schools. What ever you are looking for there are catering courses to give you the exact catering experience that you need.

When working in catering you need to:

• work as a team,
• work well under pressure,
• work unsociable hours (evening and weekends),
• work with food hygienically
• understand food safety,
• manage cost control,
• manage stock rotation,
• have superb presentation,
• have great communication skills,
• how to handle suppliers and food ordering,
• manage deliveries,
• and maybe train other staff members,

As you gain experience you can progress to team leader, pastry chef, sous chef, assistant kitchen manager or catering manager, and then onto the much coveted head chef or executive chef positions. Again as you proceed up the ladder there are catering courses available all along the way to help you progress quickly.

Catering courses come in many shapes and sizes. Firstly there are catering internships (apprenticeships). These are very good because they can give you real life relevant training alongside going to class for studying.  Usually approximately twenty hours per week are in the kitchen and the rest spent learning in the classroom.

Secondly, then there are Commercial Food Preparation Courses. When making food which is to be eaten by the general public you need to have obtained certain skills before you are let loose. To attend this course you usually have to first attend a culinary arts course as a pre-requiste requirement.

In addition to the above courses there are catering courses on subjects such as Menu Planning & Design which are all about how to make profitable menus whilst at the same time keeping customers satisfied.  This usually in addition covers the area of Marketing i.e. how to attract new customers and keep existing customers returning.

Others catering courses can be found on purchasing, baking, pastry, food safety, food sanitation, cost control and food waste, food hygiene, management of food and drinks, buffet catering, to name a few. Feel free to explore this site which is dedicated to catering training for all levels and provide all the resources and information to start your new culinary career or enhance your existing one.