10 Academic Venues
onference Aston, the largest conference venue in Birmingham, is bucking the trend in its kitchens, with almost double the number of women in chef roles than the national average. International Women’ s Day was marked on 8 March, and Samantha Brown, head of Conference Aston, called for more women to consider a career in hospitality. She said the venue is already flying the flag for females: with a strong history of female directors leading the business since Conference Aston began operations in the 1980s, to present day where its kitchen team comprises 30 % women- which is almost double the industry average. Figures from the Office for National Statistics( ONS) in 2016 showed that women chefs are becoming ever-more scarce, with just 18.5 % across the industry in the UK. However, Brown said she would love to encourage more girls and women into the sector.“ We’ re very proud of our record when it comes to attracting women to our team and this International Women’ s Day was particularly poignant because we have already marked 100 years of women’ s suffrage in the UK,” she explained.“ The catering industry has been notoriously dominated by men and has long been considered a macho environment but this culture has changed dramatically over the past few years and it is more women friendly, as we have demonstrated. Despite its image,
It is reported that the UK has 172 Michelin star restaurants but, strikingly, only 10 of those have female head chefs. It goes to show how far ahead the acadmemic venue sector is.
Bucking the trend for women chefs
Conference Aston flies the flag for female chefs
it can be a family-friendly career and we’ d welcome more women to use their talents and consider catering as a career.” Wilson Vale, Conference Aston’ s on-site catering partner, agrees that this is an industry-wide issue that many operators are addressing. While 51 % of its 750 employees are female, the company believes that when it comes to chef roles, a better gender balance can be achieved by making it easier for women to return to the workplace and by supporting female talent to move up the ranks through craft training, mentoring and development. Clare Kemp( pictured), who has been a chef for more than 20 years and has worked as a pastry chef at Conference Aston for five years, said she could not imagine doing any other job.“ I love my job- it isn’ t just a career; the people who work with me are like family too,” she says.“ I’ d recommend becoming a chef because it is so fulfilling. Commercial kitchens tend to be male-dominated but there is a good balance at Conference Aston and it is great to work in such a supportive environment where, regardless of gender, talent is recognised and celebrated.” Conference Aston employs 10 full-time chefs, three of whom are women. www. conference-news. co. uk