Neil Borthwick, a chef at The Connaught in London, and Joseph Durrant, waiter at Atrium Restaurant in Edinburgh, have been selected as this year’s winners of the Restaurant Association’s annual Young Chef Young Waiter competition.

The winners saw off stiff competition from seven other competitors in each category at the national final at Westminster Kingsway College on 3 October.

The competition was followed by an awards dinner at the House of Commons, where the awards were presented by Richard Caborn, minister for tourism.

He added, “Neil obviously has a natural gift for his profession and the decision to award him first place was unanimous among the judges.”

Chief judge for the waiters, Jeremy Rata of The Devonshire Arms, said of the 2006 Young Waiter, “Joseph stood out in both the regional and national finals. His exceptionally easy manner and high degree of technical expertise made the decision to award him first prize clear cut.”

Each winner was presented with a cheque for £2,000 and will receive a week-long study trip to Barbados, courtesy of the Barbados Tourism Authority.

Photograph: (left to right) David Baldwin, chair of the Restaurant Association; Neil Borthwick, 2006 Young Chef winner, and Richard Caborn, minister for tourism.