Professional Food Photography

The Academy aspires to be the first-choice provider for learning and development for TUCO members. All our development days, study tours and courses - face to face or online - have been designed to meet specific needs and requests from our members, to cover legislative imperatives and to recognise emerging trends in hospitality.

The courses span training and development needs from entry level to senior manager and director level in Universities and Colleges. All activities are subsidised for members and the Academy also aims to offer free of charge events supporting members’ continuous professional development.

The TUCO Academy was founded and launched by a TUCO Academy Project Group headed up by Helen Anzani (Head of Catering at the University of South Wales) in 2015. Working in partnership with London South Bank University, the Academy was created to offer an answer to the challenge of the skills gap in the catering and hospitality industry and meet the future needs of recruiting and retaining staff.

The TUCO Academy works with trusted training providers on delivering courses and aims to ensure that these courses map on to other training avenues, including professional bodies who specialise in Hospitality, Catering and Leadership. Several of our one-day courses at TUCO HQ are designed to support staff in our member institutions who are building their careers and moving into leadership roles. Many of our training courses can be delivered across the UK in member regions to reduce travel costs and time for delegates. And we are pleased to also now include accredited Highfield courses for operational staff on site, in your own institution for only the cost of registration and certification of each learner.

Our study tours particularly aim to focus on food and drink trends that have been identified in the Global Food Trends Report, a research project carried out by The Food People on an annual basis. We also recognise that the international appeal of Universities and Colleges in the UK will drive student attendance from outside the country. TUCO Academy balances extended international tours with shorter regional tours to appeal to a range of members’ needs and budgets and to share best practice between institutions.

TUCO Academy development days emphasise skill-based training and cater for specific job roles or tasks within the hospitality and catering sector. We recognise that these roles will include many aspects of student and commercial services and create our programme accordingly.

The TUCO Academy is proud to provide the opportunity for members to undertake a master’s degree with London South Bank University, including a potential bursary offer to cover the course fees. This degree programme has been tailored for public sector leaders or aspiring leaders in hospitality, catering and commercial services. The criterion for prospective students is either a degree OR a minimum of 5-years’ experience.