Apprentice Chef

VICTOR VICTORIA COFFEE LTD

Cambridge (CB22 3HJ)

Closes in 23 days (Sunday 30 November 2025 at 11:59pm)

Posted on 6 November 2025

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Summary

Apprentice chef for a busy coffee shop restaurant, serving breakfast, brunch and lunch. Great team and fantastic facilities to work in. Daytime hours plus opportunity to learn all elements of working in hospitality including front of house and barista skills. Role will include training on prep, knife skills and ultimately leading running the pass.

Wage

£11,778 to £19,047.60, depending on your age

National Minimum Wage

Check minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

Pay may increase depending on experience.

Training course
Production chef (level 2)
Hours
7.30am- 4pm Including every other weekend

30 hours a week

Start date

Wednesday 10 December 2025

Duration

1 year

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

  • The day usually starts at 7.30am with the production of the day's requirements or baking the morning goods
  • Service starts at 9am and typically builds to a peak around 12.30pm
  • Last food orders are taken at 2.40pm (1.40 on Sundays) at which point the kitchen gets a through clean down and stock orders are worked out for the following day

The apprentice will initially be responsible for helping with the prep and cooking of simple dishes, developing their skills until they are able to be the main chef producing customer tickets in full either on their own or with a supporting chef on busier days.

The apprentice may also be trained to bake the morning goods and daily cakes as well as other pastry skills.

Where you'll work

80 High Street
Sawston
Cambridge
CB22 3HJ

Training

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

Training provider

CAMBRIDGE REGIONAL COLLEGE

Training course

Production chef (level 2)

Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)

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

  • Front of house skills
  • Barista
  • Bartending
  • Customer interaction
  • Complaint handling
  • Menu development, specials development and production
  • Potentially developing and running their own themed dinner evenings

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

  • English (grade 3/D)
  • Maths (grade 3/D)

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

Skills

  • Communication skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Organisation skills
  • Customer care skills
  • Team working

About this employer

An indépendant coffee shop business currently with two busy coffee shops. The first was opened in March 2020 in Newmarket and has been busy since day one. The second, a much bigger site in Sawston, was opened in February 2024 with a more extensive for menu and better kitchen facilities. The business is run primarily by Vicky Snell, with the Sawston site managed by business partner Nick Rodgers. The chef since opening in Sawston is Rob Difrancesco who has extensive experience as a chef across various restaurant operations and styles.

https://www.victorvictoriacoffee.com/ (opens in new tab)

After this apprenticeship

  • There is a possibility to be offered a permanent chef role within the business

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

CAMBRIDGE REGIONAL COLLEGE

Hannah

01223 418778

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000349970.

Apply now

Closes in 23 days (Sunday 30 November 2025 at 11:59pm)

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