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National Skills Academy for Hospitality has been given the green light by the government. Minister for Skills David Lammy announced on 7th May 2008, that the People 1st co-ordinated bid for a National Skills Academy in Hospitality had been successful.

This marks the dawn of a new era in education and training for the hospitality industry, with employers working in partnership with Academy centre’s to design and deliver challenging and robust programmes to stretch the best, most capable learners.

The National Skills Academy for Hospitality has been given the green light after the bid was approved by the government this week

The Academy will include a number of hotels and restaurants that will have an integrated Skills Academy as part of their operations. An estimated 65,000 learners are expected to pass through Academy approved programmes in the next five years.

Minister for Skills, David Lammy said: "Hospitality is a vibrant and dynamic industry that plays a key and growing role in the success of the UK. The government is committed to supporting the sector as it strives to improve and renew its skills base.

"This new Academy will not only help the industry stay competitive, but will enable thousands of people to gain the skills and confidence to build successful and rewarding careers."

Tourism Minister Margaret Hodge said: "This is excellent news for the tourism industry, and an important step in improving the skills of our workforce, enabling them to get jobs and develop their careers with the best in the business.

"Strengthening the level of hospitality training through the academy will help to raise standards, as well as giving people the best possible boost to their careers. I'd like to congratulate everyone who has supported this bid and I look forward to working with all Academy members."

Brian Wisdom , the chief executive of People 1st (the Sector Skills Council for the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industries), said: "The news is a welcome tonic for our industries which face many competitive pressures. The bid has enjoyed the phenomenal support of a large number of leading employers, responsible for over 20% of the sector's staff, and we look forward to welcoming the first students as early as this September.

"The Academy will deliver talent for hospitality employers - showcasing the very best, and raising the bar by developing world class training.

Rising costs and greater competition for a diminishing young workforce have made life more difficult for our employers, so we are delighted to have secured over GBP100 million of funding for one of our industries. This is a truly massive achievement, and gives us the opportunity to compete with other sectors of UK PLC.

The scale of this shift in funding is a first and all the partners' hard work and support has allowed us to pull this together for the industry. The development of the Academy is a key part of our National Skills Strategy, and provides the platform for ensuring the high calibre entry routes into the sector are the best in UK PLC."