Compass Group UK & Ireland has teamed up with Dipna Anand to further enhance its culinary apprenticeship programmes, with the chef supporting a group of Level 2 and 3 apprentices with speciality cooking of Indian food.
Dipna is co-owner of the award-winning Brilliant Restaurant. Her love of food stems from three generations of chefs that have run The Brilliant Restaurant and have continued to produce award-winning, truly authentic food for over 40 years.
Compass already has a partnership with Dipna across Levy UK + Ireland, who work with her to create a bespoke range of Punjabi food, alongside offering culinary training to some of their chefs. Within Compass’ Restaurant Associates business, Dipna works on training chefs, events and the collaboration has also seen the opening of her leading restaurant at Somerset House.
Widening this partnership, she will now work with a group of apprentices from across Compass’ various sectors to deliver Apprentice Culinary Workshops, teaching the cooking of Punjabi food.
The workshops will take place at her Brilliant restaurant, covering everything from starters and snacks to Indian sauces, spices and curries. The sessions will be hands on learning, that Compass apprentices can take back to their own kitchens for customers and clients to enjoy.
Dipna shared, “Working with Compass and apprentices is always great, they are talented, enthusiastic and hardworking – so I am thrilled to be taking on this role to support their development. I love teaching the next generation about the skills and techniques of cooking Punjabi food, so it’s wonderful to see such an engaged group taking part.”
Jonathan Foot, Head of Apprenticeships and Early Careers at Compass, said, “It’s great to have Dipna support our apprenticeship programme in this way and give our apprentices another culinary experience, demonstrating the culture and diversity of food – which all adds to their learning.
“At Compass, we are committed to ensuring the development of our people, and helping everyone learn and thrive – so Dipna is a truly great mentor for our people to learn from and I’d like to thank her for her support.”
Dipna also plays an active role in Compass Group UK & Ireland’s Women in Food initiative, which aims to create a more inclusive culture in and out of the kitchen - attracting, retaining and developing female talent, and driving greater representation across all levels.
Last year, Compass launched Our Social Promise, an ambition to positively impact one million lives by 2030, through job creation, education, training, community and charitable engagement. Part of this strategy includes the development of its people, maximising training opportunities such as apprenticeships, mentoring, the graduate scheme and internal Career Pathways.
Compass now runs 40 different apprenticeships that cover everything from Culinary, Facilities, Business Management, Events, HR, Finance, IT/Digital, Sales and Procurement – they are developed to take candidates from level 2 up to level 6 and 7, degree equivalent.