Record Number of Entries for ceda’s Grand Prix Awards

This year, ceda has received a record number of exceptional entries to its Grand Prix Awards. The total number of contenders has increased significantly in recent years; this year’s figure is a huge 35% rise over last year, which was itself a 20% increase on 2018. 

The Awards recognise excellence in hospitality and foodservice projects for every type of establishment. This year, ceda Members could enter their projects into six categories:

• Design Project Under £50k
• Design Project £50k to £200k
• Design Project £300k to £500k
• Design Project Over £500k
• Outstanding Customer Service
• Project Management Excellence

Submissions range in project value from £39,000 to more than £30 million and cover all sectors of the market, including hotels, stadia, education, healthcare, garden centres, fine dining, casual dining, pubs, restaurants and retail, highlighting the breadth, scale and excellence of Members’ work. 

Adam Mason, ceda Director General, commented, “I’m pleased and proud of the entries that we have received, not just the number but the standard and quality. The last few years will go down as challenging given the economic and political uncertainty but this demonstrates the brilliance of what our Members do on a daily basis”.

The judges of the prestigious Awards are industry veterans John Savage and Ron Neville. The winners will be announced at the ceda Conference and Gala Dinner 2020, being held this year at the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate, on the 23rd and 24th April. 

TAG’s Mike Bradley to take on London Marathon

Mike Bradley, business development manager at TAG Catering Equipment has secured a place in the Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday 26th April 2020. He will be taking on the 26.2-mile running challenge in aid of Guide Dogs (The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association), hoping to raise £1000.

Mike Bradley is an avid runner, is a coach for Saffron Striders and is a trained guide runner, providing guidance to the visually impaired on their runs.

Although a frequent runner, the furthest Mike has run in one go is 20-miles, so the 26.2- miles is set to be a real challenge.

“I have been dealing with blind people since I was 8-years old when my mum lost her sight. We regularly went to meetings where there would always be guide dogs for me to play with” commented Mike Bradley.

“I also did my ski guiding with guide dogs and I now do guide running with visually impaired runners. I am branch organiser for the Saffron Walden Branch of Guide Dogs Fundraising.

“I am hoping to raise £1000 as it will take the branch fundraising over £56,000 which is the whole life-cycle cost of a guide dog.

“I am as passionate about helping visually impaired people experience things that they can’t do without assistance, as I am about running.

“I’d be grateful if you could help me raise as much as possible” commented Mike.

To donate to Mike’s London Marathon fundraising please visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mike-saffronstrider

In September 2019 Mike was named Coach of the Year at England Athletics Regional Volunteer Awards in recognition of developing the Saffron Striders’ 10-week zero to 5k and 5k to 10k programmes, attracting over 50 new members and not missing a single training session over 22-weeks.

ceda Launches First Ever Catering Equipment Service and Installation Technician Apprenticeship

After lengthy discussions with course providers and employers, ceda is thrilled to announce the launch of the first ever Catering Equipment Service and Installation Technician Apprenticeship, which will be provided in partnership with registered apprenticeship provider, ECTA.  

The apprenticeship, which is funded by the Government, will last for a period of 30 months for each cohort of apprentices and has been developed to cover knowledge and skills including Electrical Competence, Basic Plumbing, Health and Safety issues, Relevant Regulations, ACS Accreditations and fault finding procedures, as well as behavioural requirements such as customer care and communication. As the course is being offered on a block release basis, apprentices only need to attend the Stockport training centre for one week every eight weeks. 

Any employer in the catering equipment or related industries is able to make use of the course and need not be a ceda Member to become involved. 

The apprenticeship’s introduction comes as the demand for highly trained maintenance technicians grows, with catering equipment becoming ever more sophisticated and catering operators both increasingly understanding the need for regular preventive maintenance and demanding quick repair response times.

Commenting on this brilliant new apprenticeship, Peter Kay, ceda Technical Support Advisor, said “ceda has long recognised the need for an apprenticeship for service and installation technicians. However, historically, apprenticeships were driven by academics and based on formal qualifications and whilst ACS Gas Accreditations are a legal requirement, they are not classed as qualifications. Ceda also considered all the available electrical qualifications but found that they were designed for installers of electrical systems and did not deliver the skills and knowledge required by a catering equipment technician. ceda even looked at developing a suitable qualification but the cost was prohibitive.

Fortunately the Government recognised that many other industries were in a similar situation and changed the apprenticeship system in 2014 to one of apprenticeship standards which could be developed by employers to meet their industry’s needs. In 2018 ceda encouraged its members to form a Trailblazer Group to develop a standard and with the help of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Further Education the standard was approved and published in July 2019.”

As apprenticeships are the responsibility of the devolved nations, the standard is only available in England. However, Government funding is still available for any apprentice who works at least 50% of their time in England, irrespective of their employer’s location. There are a number of apprentices in the first cohort who work for Welsh employers.

The first cohort of fifteen apprentices begins their training course later this month; future cohorts will start in the coming months. ceda is therefore encouraging all employers who wish to take part to contact the organisation for more information.   

Adam Mason, ceda Director General, summed up, “This is a momentous thing for the Industry as for so long the development of a sector-specific Apprenticeship standard has been talked about. Huge thanks to those organisations that took an active role on the Trailblazer Group, chaired by Kirstin Hatherley. This is a piece of work that ceda has facilitated but it is very much those Members who gave of their time, knowledge and expertise for a greater good, who deserve absolute praise. I can’t wait to meet the first cohort of Apprentices later this month and I am thrilled that we are able to deliver this for the Industry.”

ceda Technical Support Advisor, Peter Kay, has been instrumental in the development of the new apprenticeship.

ceda is pleased to announce the launch of its latest initiative, cedaAssist, which aims to promote collaboration between Member companies to the benefit of their customers.

cedaAssist is a cooperative arrangement, where a number of ceda Members (cedaAssist Providers) have undertaken to carry out service, repair and installation work for customers on behalf of another Member (a cedaAssist Principal). Any Member can be a cedaAssist Principal.

Peter Kay, ceda’s Technical Support Advisor, commented, “Even though all ceda members have service and installation cover for their main areas of business, there are sometimes occasions when they need help and cedaAssist is designed to provide this. By using a cedaAssist Provider they know that they will be represented by qualified engineers who will look after their interests in the same way as their own engineers.”

So far, 26 Member companies have signed up for the initiative, meaning that services of every kind can be carried out in every region of the UK. It is hoped that as many Members as possible become involved in the initiative, to ensure that the highest standards are upheld and that customers receive the best possible service and choice.

cedaAssist will be overseen by the ceda Technical Steering Group, who set the conditions of participation.

Equipment Industry Walking Group reunites for a 2020 Kinder Scout Challenge

Following on from their challenge walk up Blencathra in the Lake District last September, the Commercial Catering Equipment Charity Walking group are once again re-uniting to take on their next challenge  – a walk up Kinder Scout in the beautiful Peak District.

The team led by James Connolly of Celltherm Coldrooms and Nick Archer of Archer Catering Services have launched their next event which will again seek to raise much needed funds for Hospitality In Action, one of the few charities who assist members of the hospitality Industry who have fallen on hard times, suffered bereavement and are in need of their support. The team will head up Kinder Scout in the Peak District on Friday the 21^st February 2020, leaving Edale Village at 9:30am after a bacon sandwich and a tea/coffee.

The Kinder Scout walk will re-enact the Mass Trespass back in 1932 where the Ramblers Group had its humble beginnings. This walk was the initial act of defiance against aristocratic landowners which culminated in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and opened up swathes of wild land to walkers, ramblers and the general public without fear of prosecution.

Nick Archer mentions, that “the walk is about 8 ½ miles and will be over 2,200 feet high. It should take us about 4-5 hours but there is no time limit and the team welcome walkers of all ages and abilities. We wait for everyone and there’s no rush, but please come prepared”!

Basing themselves in Glossop for an overnight stay after the walk and holding the walk on a Friday gives industry bosses an opportunity to give their staff a day off to attend the walk or even organise their own team building day within this event.

James Connolly mentions “these series of walks are very much about the Health and Wellbeing of our industry. There’s no mandatory fee and no commitment to raise funds but the team are asking for donations to their fundraising page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kinder-scout-challenge-2020

The last walk in the Lake District was a great success and the Chief Executive of the Foodservice Equipment Association, Keith Warren, has given the walking Group his organisation’s full support. “I am delighted with this initiative that is focussing on our industry’s mental health and wellbeing. The Foodservice Equipment Association (formerly CESA) is delighted to get behind this brilliant initiative and we are actively encouraging our members to get involved, in fact I’ll be popping along myself in February, having enjoyed last years’ walk”!

These series of walks have drawn wide ranging attendance from not just manufacturers but Kitchen Houses, Distributors, Foodservice Consultants and even competitors pledging their support. Offers of support have been pledged from Celltherm Coldrooms, Falcon Foodservice, Archers Catering Systems, Blue Seal, Essential Supplies to name but a few.

Anyone wanting to join the group on their day out are asked to email James or Nick on james@celltherm.co.uk or nick@archercateringsystems.com for further information. The group have also started a LinkedIn page for those wishing to keep in touch with future challenges and events. Click on this link to visit he page and request to join: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8839711/