HARTE graduates `serve up` skills to potential employers

24 July 2012

Participants of the council`s HARTE programme showcased their hospitality skills to prospective employers at a special luncheon recently at the Belfast Met College in the Titanic Quarter.

The Hospitality and Retail Training for Employment (HARTE) initiative is jointly funded by Belfast City Council, Lisburn City Council and the European Social Fund and is supported by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL).

Over 70 people from Belfast and Lisburn took part in the latest round of the programme which was open to unemployed people in both council areas. Five hospitality and retail training programmes were delivered – three of which were in conjunction with employers such as Fitzers (catering contractors for Titanic Belfast); JRS (contractors for the MAC in Belfast) and the Premier Inn hotel in Lisburn. The programme was delivered for both councils by Time Associates, GEMS NI and Belfast Metropolitan College.

At the Linenhall Suite of the Belfast Met recently, participants of the programme cooked up and served customers from a special four course luncheon menu that they devised. The customers included representatives from the hospitality industry in Belfast and Lisburn among them JRS Catering and Events Ltd, Fitzers Catering, Malone Lodge and the Balmoral Hotel. The luncheon was opened by Councillor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, the Deputy Chairman of Belfast City Council`s Development Committee.

HARTE was launched in Belfast in January 2009 and the previous round of the programme enabled 90 people to gain employment in the hospitality and retail sector. Over 190 participants on the programme have also gained recognised qualifications and completed personal development courses.

To find out more about the programme or Belfast City Council`s other business programmes, contact the council’s Economic Development Unit on 028 9050 0504 or visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk/businessprogrammes

ENDS

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Image: HARTE graduates have been proving their skills

Image: HARTE graduates have been proving their skills

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