Apprentice Kitchen Assistant

Summary

Step inside the Swan Inn, a wonderfully lively pub restaurant in Stanway, Essex. Just over five miles from central Colchester and a brief seven-minute drive from Colchester Zoo, a trip to the Swan Inn is the perfect way to enhance a day of family fun. Get some fresh air in the beer garden or sip your perfectly poured pint indoors.

Wage

£11,388 a year

Training course

Production chef (level 2)

Hours

20 hours minimum p/week. Shift work including bank holidays, evenings and weekends. Exact shifts to be confirmed.

20 hours a week

Start date

Thursday 8 October 2026

Duration

1 year 3 months

Positions available

1

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

As an Apprentice Chef with Hungry Horse, your passion for all things food, and the desire to make the perfect dish every time, is what sets you apart. With a keen eye for maintaining the highest standards and thriving during a fast-paced service, you'll soon become an invaluable member of the kitchen team.

Amazing food, live sport, sun-drenched beer gardens and play areas for the kids: just a few things that make our Hungry Horse pubs so special. And with over 200 locations across the country, we've got sizzling steaks, to Sunday roasts and the perfect line-up of drinks to match. We know that coming to a pub's a treat. But it doesn't have to be a rare one. The goal behind our family pubs is to feed the whole gang for less.

As an Apprentice Chef, you will... 

• Prepare, cook, and present food that meets specs and customer expectations
• Maintain hygiene levels and safety regulations in the kitchen to help guarantee the safety of your entire team and visitors
• Communicate clearly with your team in order to provide high-quality meals to customers on time
• Keep up to date with new products, menus, and promotions

We're all about rewarding our team's hard work, that's why you will benefit from...

• Discount of 33% for you and 15% for your loved ones on all of our brands, so you enjoy your favourite food and drink at a discount
• Free employee assistance program - mental health, well-being, financial, and legal support because you matter!
• Enhanced, family-friendly maternity and paternity policies
• Menopause friendly employer
• Discount of 50% for you and 25% for your loved ones at our Greene King Inns and hotels, so you can enjoy a weekend away without breaking the bank
• Refer a friend - Who do you know who could be interested in a new role? When they are placed, you could earn up to £1,500 for referring them!
• Wagestream - Access your wage before payday for when life happens
• Retail discounts - Receive up to 30% off at Superdrug, exclusive discounts with Three Mobile along with many more

What your apprenticeship includes:

• You won't need to attend college, our apprenticeships are delivered through work-based training which includes a mixture of face-to-face sessions and remote Team calls with your Lifetime Learner Coach every 6 weeks. You will also have a mentor within the workplace to support you
• Obtain Functional Skills in English and maths, with support tailored to your needs (if you don't already have GCSEs or equivalents)
• Reviews every 12 weeks with the Apprentice, Line Manager and
• Lifetime Learner Coach including feedback sessions

Alongside working full-time as an Apprentice Chef, you will also be joining our unique Chef Academy, where you will have the opportunity to attend four masterclasses designed to teach you expert knowledge and technical skills involved in 4 different areas of cooking. 

CREATING PLACES WHERE PEOPLE FEEL WELCOME, SAFE AND THAT THEY BELONG. 

We aim to embed inclusion into every decision we make, across our people, customers, communities, suppliers, and operations. We want to create a culture where everyone feels welcome, valued, and able to thrive. 

Where you'll work

285 London Road
CO3 8LU

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

Training provider

LIFETIME TRAINING GROUP LIMITED

Training course

Production chef (level 2)

What you'll learn

Course contents

• Prepare and cook pre-portioned fresh and frozen meat, fish, and poultry to business standards.
• Prepare and cook fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables to business standards.
• Prepare salad vegetables to business standards.
• Cook poached, simmered, steamed, boiled, braised, stewed, baked, grilled, and fried dishes.
• Regenerate dried and frozen ingredients and dishes.
• Undertake stock control, storage, and rotation.
• Communicate professionally with colleagues, line managers, stakeholders, and customers.
• Work as part of a team to support service delivery.
• Follow specifications to produce, portion, and present food.
• Manage own time to ensure allocated tasks are completed.
• Use techniques for maintaining good mental health and wellbeing to support self and others, including asking for and giving help with daily tasks.
• Use feedback to improve own performance.
• Prepare and close down an area for service.
• Use problem solving techniques to resolve routine and non-routine issues within scope of own role.
• Maintain prep and par levels according to business need.
• Clean and maintain manual and electrical food-preparation and cooking tools, equipment, and technology.
• Follow standard operating procedures to select and safely use appropriate knives and boards for the task, for example red handled knife and red board for raw meat.
• Monitor and record food temperatures and manage allergens during preparation, cooking, holding, and serving.
• Apply hygiene management techniques to maintain a safe clean work environment, for example COSHH, personal hygiene, and uniform.
• Reduce the waste of resources, acting to measure and reduce plate waste, exercise portion control, and maximise yield.
• Comply with health and safety legislation, regulations, guidelines and procedures, including stress management.
• Follow equity, diversity, and inclusion legislation and organisational policies.
• Deliver to key performance indicators to support the production, performance, and budget within own area of responsibility.
• Use manual and electrical food-preparation and cooking tools, equipment, machinery, and technology.
• Prepare and cook pre-portioned fresh and frozen meat, fish, and poultry to business standards.
• Prepare and cook fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables to business standards.
• Prepare salad vegetables to business standards.
• Cook poached, simmered, steamed, boiled, braised, stewed, baked, grilled, and fried dishes.
• Regenerate dried and frozen ingredients and dishes.
• Undertake stock control, storage, and rotation.
• Communicate professionally with colleagues, line managers, stakeholders, and customers.
• Work as part of a team to support service delivery.
• Follow specifications to produce, portion, and present food.
• Manage own time to ensure allocated tasks are completed.
• Use techniques for maintaining good mental health and wellbeing to support self and others, including asking for and giving help with daily tasks.
• Use feedback to improve own performance.
• Prepare and close down an area for service.
• Use problem solving techniques to resolve routine and non-routine issues within scope of own role.
• Maintain prep and par levels according to business need.
• Clean and maintain manual and electrical food-preparation and cooking tools, equipment, and technology.
• Follow standard operating procedures to select and safely use appropriate knives and boards for the task, for example red handled knife and red board for raw meat.
• Monitor and record food temperatures and manage allergens during preparation, cooking, holding, and serving.
• Apply hygiene management techniques to maintain a safe clean work environment, for example COSHH, personal hygiene, and uniform.
• Reduce the waste of resources, acting to measure and reduce plate waste, exercise portion control, and maximise yield.
• Comply with health and safety legislation, regulations, guidelines and procedures, including stress management.
• Follow equity, diversity, and inclusion legislation and organisational policies.
• Deliver to key performance indicators to support the production, performance, and budget within own area of responsibility.
• Use manual and electrical food-preparation and cooking tools, equipment, machinery, and technology.

Training schedule

Chef Academy Production Chef L2, including Functional Skills in maths and English.

Requirements

Desirable qualifications

null in:

None required (grade None required)

Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.

Skills

• Team Working
• Organisation Skills

Other requirements

The key dates are to be used as a guide only. Should the right candidate be found, this vacancy may close early.