Ready to order, sir?

Training for a career in restaurants is un-British, but increasingly popular

There are very few students who have not sought to supplement their grants by working in restaurants or bars. Equally, very few have built on that experience to make a career of it. Graduates - or, more pertinently, their parents - have tended to feel that such work is fine for the vacations but not professional enough to commit one's life to.

Much of the prejudice has to do with the tradition of long hours and poor pay as well as the still acute risk of business failure, but those involved in the industry also believe that British distaste for jobs associated too closely with service is also a factor.

Restaurant groups claim to be dealing with the conditions issue by reducing hours - while still pointing out that the times worked can, by definition, be anti-social - and increasing pay. They are also formalising the training procedures more and more - with some adopting national vocational qualifications - in an effort to attract the right people, develop them and keep them.

Next month sees the first anniversary of the Butlers Wharf Chef School, which - although in the heart of Sir Terence Conran's eating complex in London's Docklands - is a charitable concern involving local authorities, training and enterprise councils and the Hotel and Catering Training Company as well as Conran Restaurants.

Shortly before the establishment was launched with the aim of becoming "London's premier centre of professional cookery", Groupe Chez Gerard, the fast-expanding company that runs such eateries as Bertorelli's and Soho Soho as well as the French-style restaurants from which it takes its name, set up its own management training course.

The objective, explains Debby Jelffs, director of human resources, is to offer training and a career path in the hope that "multi-talented people" will sign up for lengthy spells with the company.

While it is linked to the nearby Leith's Restaurant in Kensington (though not the string of establishments of the same name that were disposed of when co-founder Prue Leith sold out of the business in 1993), Leith's School of Food and Wine is not seeking to train staff for any particular organisation.

Instead, says Caroline Waldegrave, principal, the idea is to teach "classic and creative cookery in a professional but informal atmosphere" with the aim of providing students with the skills and confidence necessary to be a success.

Unlike the Butlers Wharf and Chez Gerard schemes, this is not a recent response to Britain's growing love affair with food. It has, in fact, recently celebrated its 21st anniversary with a record year - 600 students attended the school and helped boost turnover 11 per cent to just over pounds 1m. However, Mrs Waldegrave does acknowledge that the rise in interest in food is affecting her establishment, too. Not only are there growing waiting lists for classes, but the organisation has several spin-offs, including books based on specialist courses, a burgeoning franchise operation to teach practical home economics in schools, a list of vacancies and even a sort of "Generation Game" whereby corporate types bond while concocting meals. Each one is a response to public demand, explains Mrs Waldegrave, indicating that the school, which is now co-owned by her and the television executive Sir Christopher Bland, is continuing to look at ways of expanding.

Leith's is also unlike certain other schools in that it teaches amateurs as well as would-be professionals - though it is not unknown for people to be so inspired by the evening classes that they join the full-time courses. Accordingly, men and women looking to raise their confidence at preparing dinner parties have rubbed shoulders with the likes of "old boy" Henry Harris, head chef of Harvey Nichols' Fifth Floor restaurant.

Graduates of the full-time courses have obtained jobs at such places as Leith's and other other well-known eateries. But Mrs Waldegrave makes clear that - for all the changes in attitudes - restaurant work is still characterised by hard work, while owning one is decidely risky and only for those with a wealthy backer. Perhaps bearing in mind her own start in Leith's catering business, she says that some people work for a year or two in a restaurant because it is good for the CV, but move on to catering. "You can start a catering business with virtually no capital, but with a restaurant you can't start without a backer," she adds.

At Chez Gerard, the effort to provide all-round training in every aspect of the restaurant business to people from a range of backgrounds and with varying experience, entails working closely with the Butlers Wharf scheme. However, much of the instruction - in such varied areas as serving oysters and managing finance - is carried out by trainees performing different roles at the company's restaurants.

As a relatively small company, Chez Gerard is offering a much smaller number of training places than, say, Whitbread, which recently bought the rapidly expanding Cafe Pelican group. However, it claims to be able to match training to individuals and to allow them to start when it suits them rather than wait for specific times.

There are five management trainees in place, and - with the first trainee having just completed the scheme and taken up a position as an assistant manager at Soho Soho - the company is on the look-out for more.

Apart from a general reluctance on the part of graduates to join the restaurant business in the way that they have entered the retail trade, for example, the chief obstacle facing Chez Gerard and others is the explosion in the number of restaurants in Britain and, in particular, London.

Ms Jelffs claims that there is such a shortage of suitable people that she and her colleagues have been forced to make regular recruiting trips to Paris. However, she adds that the position is improving, with increasing numbers of graduates showing interest.

Certainly, the potential earnings should provide some encouragement for those wavering over whether or not to take the plunge. Though she stresses that there are no standard wages, she quotes the example of somebody who started on pounds 12,500, saw that rise to pounds 14,000 after about four months and, about 14 months after starting, is earning pounds 18,000.

Moreover, the training, says Ms Jelffs, provides "a perfect insight into running a business. It gives you a pretty good business sense if you wish to open your own restaurant or something similar".