Employment and Training - Food
Barking and Dagenham Council is working with the City of London establish a major new Food School in the borough as part of London’s wholesale markets relocation programme.
![Two female chefs are cooking food in a professional kitchen](https://i0.wp.com/bdopportunities.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Hospitality_2023-02-08-113735.jpg?fit=1024%2C439&ssl=1)
The food school seeks to support sustainability, diversity and innovation in London’s food sector, help tackle the current recruitment and retention crisis, and create high quality, structured pathways for young people to access good jobs, apprenticeships and careers in food.
The food school will include two sites:
- Dagenham Dock: Based within the new wholesale markets, this school will build on the highly successful Billingsgate Seafood Academy to meet the needs of the traders and support local access to jobs at the wholesale markets through apprenticeships and work experience.
- Barking town centre: Delivered in partnership with Barking and Dagenham College in their campus in the heart of Barking, this will incorporate a rooftop training restaurant and a diverse curriculum that supports community food innovation, promotes environmental sustainability, and celebrates world cuisine – filling a major gap in the UK’s catering training landscape, which is narrowly focused on British and French cuisine and does little to meet the needs of London’s diverse food sector.
Join courses
For information about the seafood training courses currently available at Billingsgate Seafood Academy, visit their website:
To find out about food and hospitality training at Barking and Dagenham College, visit their website:
If you are interested in finding out more about the new food school or able to offer placements or apprenticeships for local trainees, contact goodfood@lbbd.gov.uk