Modern Apprenticeships were on the menu as celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson visited the Highlands to promote the scheme today (Tuesday 28th October).

Managed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Scottish Enterprise, Modern Apprenticeships are designed to help people aged 16 and over gain the skills they need to establish a career - and earn a proper wage while they train.

More than 25,000 people in Scotland are currently training as modern apprentices - 2,600 of them in the Highlands and Islands alone - across more than 70 industry sectors.

Antony is a well-known advocate for the programme - employing modern apprentices in his own restaurant - and  was invited to come to the Highlands to spread the word.

And he was in no doubt that Modern Apprenticeships were a major recipe for success and offered benefits to employers and trainees alike.

The popular television personality spoke to employers and students during a busy day of events and opened a major new vocational centre at Lochaber College

He said: "The true beauty of a Modern Apprenticeship is that, unlike the way some old training programmes were seen, it's a proper job paying real wages.

"That means the apprentice gets a fair day's pay for a fair day's work while the employer gains a motivated worker who is being trained to do a skilled job.

"It really is the best of both worlds and I'm not surprised that the programme is such a success here in the Highlands."

His first stop was a business breakfast with Moray Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise (MBSE) at the Hilton, Coylumbridge, spelling out to employers how he has employed Modern Apprenticeships in his own businesses.

He then put on a 'Ready Steady Cook'-style event, called 'Cannae Cook, Winnae Cook', with pupils at Kingussie High School, serving up spicy meatballs in a tomato sauce with spaghetti, followed by chocolate mousse.

MBSE's skills development officer said: "Having Antony both as a speaker and ambassador for the Modern Apprenticeship programme is an inspiration for employers in the Highlands to take this route. 

"Investment in workforce training is essential if our companies are to respond to the challenges of rapidly changing business environments and Modern Apprenticeships are a tool that MBSE can use to achieve this strategic objective in our area for the Highlands."

In the afternoon, Antony was off to Fort William, meeting students at Lochaber College. During another demonstration, he cooked Mallaig smoked haddock, scrambled egg and courgette ribbons on rosti, as well as hot banana soufflés.

Antony also performed the official opening of the SVQ vocational training centre at the college before ending his 'cook's tour' at Fort William's Moorings Hotel for a question and answer session on Modern Apprenticeships.

Tina Davenport, skills development manager with Lochaber Enterprise, said, "Lochaber now has almost 160 modern apprentices working within the area who are paid employees working across a full range of industry sectors. Work-based training is a hugely popular option for students and employers alike and of course, anyone of any age can now work towards an apprenticeship.

"We'd like to encourage employers to look at their existing staff and promote Modern Apprenticeship training among their own employees.

"Having someone like Antony Worrall Thompson - an expert in his own field - will help us to promote MAs to businesses in our own area."

Georgina Morrison, training kitchen co ordinator of Lochaber College, said: "This is a fabulous opportunity for the college to build on our dramatic success with Modern Apprenticeship training across Lochaber, and for our hard working candidates, it's a boost to get the support and encouragement of such a well known personality and chef." 

And Magz Cormack, SVQ development manager at Lochaber College, added: "Having  Antony here with us today to officially launch Lochaber College's new and exciting SVQ Centre is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the work undertaken over the last year in gaining SQA approvals for customer service and administration, as well as the successful recruitment of seven candidates from local businesses.

"We look forward to the growth of the range of qualifications and services we can offer, and the recruitment of further candidates over the coming year."