The CAVC catering and hospitality provision is continually innovating and re-imagining the future of the sector. Its skills solutions are flexible and tailored to the specific requirements of customers.

Underpinned and informed by the work of several structures, CAVC’s Catering, Hospitality and Tourism Employer Board, composed of CAVC staff and a group of organisations and employers operating in the real economy with a deep understanding of market, producer and consumer needs and wants. The Board directly supports curriculum design, facilitates and sponsors work placements, creates progression opportunities for students, and helps to ensure students are fully prepared to meet current and future employer needs.

CAVC’s catering and hospitality provision is particularly well served by the College’s own restaurant called Y Dosbarth (The Classroom). This unique venue training restaurant, operating as it does as a stand-alone commercial venture that is staffed by industry practitioners with a wealth of experience. This includes expertise from Michelin and AA Rosette establishments, who work in the college restaurant, whilst overseeing the training of future culinary talent.

CAVC use Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) to inform its curriculum and to ensure that its provision meets the needs of individuals, employers and the economy. LMI is core to its curriculum planning with data sourced at both a macro and micro level. In addition, CAVC use an economic modelling tool to map local, demographic, and occupational and industry data to its planning cycle.

The Employer Board, the Classroom Restaurant and CAVC’s proactive use of LMI all combined, provide the foundation for CAVC to build and customise market solutions, interventions, products and services to enhance the catering and hospitality industry, culminating in us securing People1st Centre of Excellence accreditation for hospitality, patisserie and confectionary in 2016.

For potential partners and clients in ASEAN, CAVC supplements excellence of technical training coupled with specialist English language teaching across all levels from beginner to advanced and delivered in a contextualised way.

CAVC’s training philosophy centres on a ‘field to plate’, holistic methodology. Training includes visits to producers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in order that students understand the importance and diversity of the supply chain and the processes involved in producing quality products and services, whilst maintaining the highest quality and welfare standards, lowering the carbon footprint and reducing waste. Examples of visits include trips to the world famous Penderyn whisky distillery.

CAVC are passionate about taking these solutions, adapting and applying them to ASEAN contexts. From train the trainer programmes, to skills consultancy, and short bespoke courses, including professional cookery, bakery, patisserie and confectionary, food hygiene, safety and preparation, allergy protection and awareness, and hospitality management. These can be delivered both on-line and in face to face formats, abroad or in the UK.

CAVC will soon have its very own training hotel located in the heart of Cardiff city, which will be used to further give our learners a fully authentic training experience in real world contexts.

CAVC’s CAVC were selected as the lead partner in the British Council’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office funded I-WORK programme (Improving Work Opportunities – Relaying Knowledge).

Working with selected partners in four other countries including Malaysia, this project addressed the ‘Fairer Future’ theme of the Commonwealth Summit, with emphasis on promoting the interests of 60% of the Commonwealth’s population under 25 years of age.

CAVC’s skills activity within this project resulted in increased capacity building in employer-led inclusive education practice and the development of a frameer tgn-ceity >

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