Lakefield Students win two Silver Medals and one Bronze Medal at Hotelympia 2016
Three students from Lakefield took part in Hotelympia’s 20-minute Table Lay-up Competition at Excel London, one of the UK’s largest foodservice and most important hospitality events that happens every two years. We are very pleased to say, all of them received medals and which were presented by Steve Munkley, Executive Head Chef, of The Royal Garden Hotel.
This prestigious competition is sponsored by the World Skills UK Competitions. It is a 20-minute live competition, where the competitors have to lay the table for 4 covers from a menu presented to the them 5 minutes before start. They needed to use their creativity and skills to produce four different Napkin folds. Recommendations of wine were required with correct glass wear presented on the table. All work is performed against the clock under the judges’ critical observation and questioning.
Level 3 Hospitality Supervision and Leadership Student
Karleene Pailan, Silver Medallist
“It was my first time joining this kind of competition. I enjoyed it a lot and discovered new ideas. This competition allowed me to see opportunities that could help me in the future and to see different aspect professionally and as an individual. It raised my passion for the industry. It is fascinating to meet professionals and this experience made me want to take part in more competitions to increase my knowledge and skills. Our mentor prepared us for the competition, by having regular practice and we received feedback which helped us improve. I was surprised to win the competition because all the competitors worked to a very high standard, they were really good and very competitive”.
Level 2 Hospitality Services Student
Sian Stevens, Silver Medallist
“It was a great experience joining the competition, I was interested to see how others decorated and set their tables. We had weekly practices, I chose my theme, napkin folds and equipment for the competition which helped me to feel prepared. I’ve learnt about time management and new skills and it helped boost my confidence. I was very happy to win a silver medal; I did not expect it.”
Level 2 Event Planning Student
Wilhelmina Ebbesen, Bronze Medallist
“I really enjoyed it and I did not expect to win the competition, it felt so unreal! I thought about my table decorations a lot and I researched online to find ideas, I went with a simple theme since I wanted the food to be the focus points but wanted it not to be too simple so I add quirkiness on the plates that I used. I learned that you can always find room for improvement and you don’t really fail, you just need to learn and find a way to always improve yourself”.
Hotelympia delivers innovation and networking opportunities for exhibitors and visitors that can’t be found anywhere else on this scale. This is the place to improve businesses performance and customer offering – for hotel, restaurant, pub, café or catering company – through guaranteed access to the latest products across food and drink, catering equipment, interiors, technology, careers, and waste management solutions.
