Inside the Apprenticeships at Northcote

Nestled in the Ribble Valley hills on the edge of the Forest of Bowland, a designated area of outstanding natural beauty, sits Northcote, a luxury Lancashire hotel, Michelin star restaurant and cookery school.

A place to relax, reset, reconnect and indulge in outstanding food and award-winning wines, Northcote boasts a mix of traditional and modern, from its luxury garden lodge and manor house rooms, to its sunny terraces and cosy corners warmed by roaring log fires.

At the heart of Northcote is its Michelin star restaurant, first awarded in 1996 and retained to this day.

We headed to the prestigious venue in Langho where we caught up with Head Chef, Danny Young, a former Apprentice himself, to talk about the major role that Apprenticeships play in the running of the restaurant. We also spoke with Apprentices Matthew and Jack about their experiences of working at Northcote.

Danny said:

“I’m in charge of a brigade of 15, which covers everything from food service and ordering, to the diligence of the kitchen and fridge management.

“We came across NLTG through them being a local company and well known in the area. Working with them so far has been a really good experience; they are very up-to-date, they keep us well informed, they are up-to-date with Apprenticeship work and their Tutors are here a couple of times a month.

On the importance that Apprenticeships play at Northcote, he added:

“The importance of Apprentices to the business is massive. I started as an Apprentice at the age of 16 and over the past 11 years have worked my way up to Head Chef.

“I was moulded as a young kid with no capability of doing anything, but you are then trained by the restaurant in to how they want you to be, so there’s always going to be a job there for people and a future for someone.”

Matthew Marriott, Apprentice Chef, said:

“I’m working on the larder section and do a mix of prep, as well as lunch and evening service.

“NLTG was recommended to me by the Head of HR at Northcote, Courtney, and the balance between learning in the kitchen and also online seemed great to me.

“Working with NLTG and Northcote, means you don’t spend a day at college; it’s all on-the-job learning and theory wise it’s online, which works well.

“I’d definitely recommend doing an Apprenticeship with NLTG because it’s a great balance between working and learning.”

Jack Hayes, Apprentice Chef, said:

“I work on larder which involves helping set up canapes for lunch and dinner, as well as setting up starters for lunch.

“I did work experience here when I was in the tail end of Year 10 and I thought I really want to do this as a career in the future, so I spoke to Courtney about it.  She offered me an Apprenticeship and NLTG was the best provider.

“The experience you get from working in a place like this, you won’t find anywhere else and NLTG helps with the work and theory side so much.”

You can learn even more about Apprenticeships with NLTG and current vacancies here: https://www.nltg.co.uk/apprenticeships/ or give us a call on: 01254 395355.