Kenny Atkinson searches for apprentices for Newcastle restaurant House of Tides
A quarter of the 60-cover restaurant's staff members will be apprentices, who will get the chance to learn skills on the job alongside the double Michelin-starred chef at his first venture, which will open its doors on Newcastle Quayside on 24 January.
Atkinson said the restaurant, which is set on the first two floors of the five-storey Buttress House at The Close, would be a 'stripped back fine dining experience for the people of the North East' with a rustic feel and an open kitchen, but also somewhere for new recruits to learn new skills.
"I wanted to continue producing high quality food using the very best of our local larder, but set out within a friendly, warm and fun environment," he said. "Keeping our price point at a certain level will allow us to offer fine dining to the masses rather than the minority.
"I want my guests to enjoy themselves which will see more chef to guest interaction. However, before I can do that, I need to add one further vital ingredient to the recipe and that's a good team in both front of house and kitchen roles."
House of Tides apprentices
Atkinson, who left Rockliffe Hall in April last year to pursue his dream of opening his own restaurant, will work with half cousin Nick Atkinson, the national sales manager at Business Impact UK, to find his apprentices who will be offered full-time jobs on completion of their training.
Business Impact UK will help the chef to screen and recruit his new staff members and source the funding for them.
"This is a great opportunity for local talent to work alongside an award winning chef right here in Newcastle. Opportunities like this don't come along very often and we now have the pleasure of finding up to five young people to become Kenny's apprentices," said Nick.
"One of the advantages of taking on an apprentice aged between 16 to 18 years old, is that there is no cost to the employer thanks to the funding that we can source for them.
"A Government grant of £1,500 is also available to smaller companies with less than one thousand employees to encourage them to take on younger apprentices."
Those wanting to apply for an apprenticeship at House of Tides should register their interest with Business Impact UK's apprentice improvement team. Email erorppn.neavfba@vzcebirzraggrnz.pb.hx or call 07881 364570 to do so.
