Seven professional craft associations working in the UK hospitality industry have joined together to create a new training alliance.

Formed under the patronage of the British Hospitality Association (BHA) the Hospitality Skills Academy has been created to raise the profile of craft training and create a body which will give professional recognition to those working at craft level in the industry through providing practical skills training at NVQ levels 1-3.

The craft associations involved are the Academy of Culinary Arts, the Academy of Food and Wine Service, Amicale Internationale des Chefs de Reception, Clefs d’Or, the Craft Guild of Chefs, the UK Bartenders Guild and the UK Housekeepers Association.

The academy will work closely with the Sector Skills Council, People 1st, to set training standards and develop qualifications and will be administered by Hospitality and Leisure Manpower – which also manages the Best Practice Forum.

BHA chair, Bob Cotton, said: “We are delighted to be involved in creating the academy. There has been too much emphasis on promoting academic education, with the result that vocational training has not received the attention it demands.”

“In the hospitality industry, craft training is critically important, yet catering courses are being closed down for lack of funds and too few students.

“We are not recruiting or training enough young people in either the front or back of house and that’s where the real shortage of skilled people lies.”

David Battersby, managing director of Hospitality and Leisure Manpower, added: “By 2010, the government is forecasting the industry will have grown to an annual turnover of £100bn and will have created an additional 500,000 jobs. How we recruit, train and qualify people to fill these jobs is the biggest challenge facing us.

“Apprenticeships now need to be more flexible than before and there must be more focus on practical skills training on-the-job, complemented by short, off-job training seminars, which will give credits towards qualifications.”

James Brown, chief executive of the Academy of Food and Wine Service, said the formation of the skills academy was a huge step forward for the industry.

“There has never been an organisation before to promote craft training across all the industry’s specialisms,” he said.

“I am delighted that seven associations have been able to come together to help deal with the biggest problem facing employers – the lack of skilled staff. The academy is the first step on a long road, but a very positive step.”