Press release -
Costa Commits to Careers with Nationwide Apprenticeship Recruitment Drive
LONDON, 30 August 2017 – Costa has launched a major apprentice recruitment drive across the UK, as part of its commitment to offering careers and skill development in hospitality. There are 800 apprentices already in learning across Costa’s parent company Whitbread, with many more graduates working throughout the company. Costa has now committed to hiring at least 250 new apprentices by the end of 2017, all of which will receive the National Living Wage.
The fully-funded apprenticeship scheme offers nationally recognised qualificationsfocusing on wider business management, customer service and communication skills, as well as industry leading training in traditional barista skills. This ensures apprentices are able to progress within the company and the industry more widely, all whilst learning. The scheme is run in-house so Costa can ensure the highest standards, and has an OFSTED rating of ‘Grade 2 – Good’ through Costa’s parent company, Whitbread.
“As a leading UK hospitality business, we want to lead the way in training the next generation of leaders for the hospitality industry,” said Russ Hartland-Shaw, Costa Apprentice Programme Manager, “We know our business can only be successful if the communities in which we operate thrive, which is why we are committed to providing a scheme that offers apprentices the right level of support and responsibility, as well as a clear, structured pathway to enable candidates to have a future within the company.”
Costa apprenticeships have so far created more than 170 permanent roles for young people throughout the UK interested in pursuing hospitality career.
“The Costa apprenticeship scheme has made a huge difference to me – It’s great to be invested in and have someone say that they believe in you,” said Rob Vizor, a recent graduate of the scheme, “My Costa colleagues were all great at giving me the help I needed to succeed, and that has given me a massive confidence boost across all areas of my life.”
With impressive growth targets and a 2020 milestone of over 2,500 UK stores, apprenticeship vacancies will be available in stores throughout the country, including London, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds and Birmingham.
As part of this commitment to learning in the workplace Costa believes this year’s introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy is an opportunity for businesses to bring new talent into the business. Costa is reinvesting the Levy into existing programmes to increase the scope and potential they offer.
Candidates can find more information on the scheme and apply now on the Costa Careers website: http://www.costacareers.co.uk, or can email costa.apprenticeships@whitbread.com
Topics
- Lifestyle
Categories
- csr
- our people
For further information, please contact:
Isabella Highett, Costa UK & Ireland Press Officer
isabella.highett@whitbread.com | +44 (0) 7824 081 791
About Costa
Founded in London by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971, our quality coffee was the premium choice for boutique hotels and restaurants across the city. Today we continue to roast the original Mocha Italia recipe with our 100% Rainforest Alliance certified coffee remaining at the core of our quality coffee credentials.
With over 2,000 coffee shops in the UK and more than 1,240 in 30 overseas markets, we are the fastest growing coffee shop business in the UK. We’re proud to be the UK’s favourite coffee shop, having been awarded “Best Branded Coffee Shop Chain in the UK and Ireland" by Allegra Strategies for seven years running (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016).
Our people are the heart of our business and we employ over 30,000 people worldwide, with a target of 5,000 new jobs in the UK by 2020. Last year, we increased Barista pay by c.10%. Our Pay for progression model was introduced in October 2015, and our training rate of £7.20 was launched well ahead of National Living Wage.
As a popular, mainstream food and beverage brand, we can make a positive contribution towards customer health and wellbeing by investing in safe sourcing, new product development and consumer education. Health and wellbeing remains a strategic business focus area and we will continue to evolve our product offer over the coming years. We are working to reduce added sugar in our drinks by 25% by 2020 and will reduce salt in our sandwich range by a further 5% by 2017.
We care about the communities we operate in with our store teams volunteering over 10,000 hours of their time to lend support to over 900 local community projects.
Looking after coffee growers is extremely important to us, which is why we established The Costa Foundation, a registered charity with the aim to relieve poverty, advance education and the health and environment of coffee-growing communities around the world. So far, The Costa Foundation has funded the building of 63 schools and improved the social and economic welfare of coffee-growing communities.
Costa is also committed to tackling the UK’s literacy challenge and is proud to have signed the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge 2016. In continuation of this commitment, and inspired by the Costa Book Awards and the ongoing work of the Costa Foundation, Costa launched its inaugural Reading Week in September 2016 in conjunction with over 500 schools across the UK.
