James Martin: Be part of WorldSkills London 2011

In this post, James Martin, Celebrity Chef, discusses why he supports skill competitions like WorldSkills London 2011.

“After being practically brought up in the kitchens at Castle Howard, I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a chef and pursue a vocational path. I spent three very happy years at Scarborough Technical College, learning my trade, from chopping to sauces. I had the good fortune to be spotted by Antony Worrall Thompson at this time, which helped me work in top London restaurants and also tour France, developing my skills in the kitchens of the Chateaux. When I returned, I was in a position to be able to open a restaurant in Winchester as Head Chef. I was 21 and I have never looked back.

As vocational skills and education have been such a force behind my success, I do my best to support them now. I have had the honour to be involved with WorldSkills for several years now, indeed one of the WorldSkills 2007 Competitors, Will Torrent, helped me out as my assistant on my 2007 programme ‘Sweet Baby James’. Will’s career since then has gone from strength to strength; he recently won Young Chef of the Year 2009 from the Craft Guild of Chef’s. I was impressed with him as a person, but also the skill, confidence and support he had drawn from being involved with both WorldSkills UK and the international WorldSkills Competition. Skills competitions are one of the best things you could be involved in as a young tradesperson and they have real ability to change lives. For those reasons, I would encourage anyone to find out more about WorldSkills London 2011 and become involved in skills competitions.”

Why are skills important?

Simon Bartley, CEO of UK Skills explains why vocational skills are important:

Hello, I’m Simon Bartley, CEO of UK Skills, of which WorldSkills London 2011 is a wholly owned subsidiary. In this post, I want to take the opportunity to explain why we are so passionate about skills here at 36 Queen Street.

Both national and international skills competitions offer significant benefits to all those involved. They develop young people’s confidence, as Oliver Clack, who represented the UK in Stonemasonry at WorldSkills Calgary 2009 explains“It is an honour to be among the top in the UK. The thought of it makes me so proud of myself.”

They also encourage young people to develop their skill base and therefore prepare them for future employment. These benefits are even more apparent in difficult economic times like today, when a highly skilled workforce is essential to compete in the global market place.

Through skills competitions, we can work together to lift standards of training and performance, promoting world class skills and international competitiveness. Faced with continued economic uncertainty, it is essential we don't give up on training and keep encouraging new talent. It's competitions like WorldSkills that already are and can continue to help us achieve this.

Aidan Jones, Executive Director of WorldSkills London 2011

Hello, I’m Aidan Jones, Executive Director of WorldSkills London 2011 and my job is to lead the dynamic team that will deliver the 41^st WorldSkills Competition in London in 2011. We are very excited about the challenge of putting on such a large and exciting event and with less than two years to go, our plans are really beginning to take shape.

A large part of the success of any event is observing and learning from similar events and this will be the closest thing we have to a rehearsal. Many members of the WorldSkills London 2011 team have recently come back from WorldSkills Calgary 2009 in Canada. Our Canadian hosts were extremely helpful, allowing us all to get ‘behind the scenes’ to see both the triumphs and the occasional obstacles. I know that, as well as soaking up the atmosphere of a fantastic event, what we learnt in Calgary will stand us in good stead for producing the most exciting, inclusive and inspiring WorldSkills Competition ever.

You can see photos and videos from our trip to Calgary on our website and I look forward to seeing you at WorldSkills London 2011!