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Courses available for East Midlands based publicans

Nottingham based learning and development specialists UNOCO Group offer a unique package to licensees all over the East Midlands. The company provides a range of award winning products and services for employers and is dedicated to the development of education and skills.

For those in the pub industry this means that they can access training for staff at all levels with minimal cost and disruption to working life.
 
Courses on offer include NVQs in Food and Drink Service, Hospitality Services, and Customer Service as well as a combined cross sector NVQ tailored to an individual’s job function.

The Food and Drink service NVQ is suitable for those working as waiter/ess, and those who combine this with bar work. This course of 8 units is completed by candidates completing questions in each unit and a small work based project. An assessor will observe the learner at work, and match their actions to NVQ standards. A person with experience in the job can expect to complete this NVQ within 3 months, whereas candidates who are less experienced may take slightly longer, between 4-6 months.

The Hospitality Services course is also a Level 2 certificate, and consists of approximately 12 units. This is suitable for anyone who wants to progress their career and try a bit of everything. Learners will need to demonstrate experience in the bar, restaurant and the kitchen. As before, the assessor will observe the learner at work, and a set of questions for each unit. Depending on experience the course can be completed in as little as 4 months, although it can take up to 8.

The cross sector programme is the final option available at UNOCO. This includes units from customer service, leadership and management, iTQ, Business Improvement Techniques and essential skills for hospitality. This programme is all about getting back to basics and is designed to support learners taking an NVQ. The programme is designed to run concurrently with the learner’s NVQ. A short online or paper-based assessment at the end of the programme is the only requirement to achieve their certificate.

Since embedding this programme into all NVQs, NLC have increased their NVQ completion rate to over 80%, using interactive multimedia learning programmes and workbooks that candidates can either study at work or at home at their own pace and time, so disruptions to the workplace are minimised. These are complemented by group or individual tutorials and workshops.

This programme covers elements of written communication and working with numbers, and includes basic ICT. This can dramatically improve the skills and efficiency of every day activities that are part of the candidate’s job, in this case:
Taking food and drinks orders, beer line cleaning, receiving deliveries, taking credit card payments manually, cashing up, portion control and stock taking.

There is also a range of short programmes delivered in one to two day workshops, or in some cases by tutor supported learning. Included in these are first aid, equality and diversity, conflict management and health and safety.

Editors notes:

1. The Network Learning Centres (NLC) - part of the group - is an LSC approved training provider. NLC uses standardised portfolio, interactive learning resources and a unique delivery model to deliver the course to thousands of NVQ candidates each year with over 80% achievement rates and an average delivery time of 4.5 months.  The company also has access to a wide range of funding streams to support the cost of staff training, including the new Train to Gain Service.
2. Atyourpace, another part of the UNOCO group, has designed innovative learning programmes to help individual learners gain new skills or study for recognised qualifications in ICT and other subjects at their own pace and in their own environment. Learning providers, employers, funding bodies and other organisations, use the company’s award winning interactive learning programmes, assessment tools, management systems and support services, to assess needs and deliver successful training.

For more information, please contact

Ted Stanley, UNOCO Group, 0871 4333363
Ruth Gross/Dianne Allen, Gemini PR & Marketing, 0115 852 3850.