Warwickshire County Council (WCC) has teamed up with Kenilworth's oldest pub, The Virgins & Castle, to showcase careers in hospitality and employment opportunities at the 16th century venue.

As part of the council's 'Skills for Employment Programme,' a select group of Warwickshire businesses have been chosen to film behind the scenes of their day-to-day activities and create a digital showreel with team interviews.

The Virgins & Castle was taken over by award-winning hospitality group Caviar & Chips, one week before the country went into lockdown. Yet, since re-opening they have been recruiting for roles across the pub in leadership, front-of-house and kitchen positions.

More recently they have created three new apprenticeship opportunities with WCG (formerly Warwickshire College) to show a great example of Warwickshire businesses navigating their way through the impact of COVID-19 and creating employment.

Julie Crump, Chief Operations Officer at Caviar & Chips, leads on recruitment and operations at the Virgins & Castle and said "even before we took on the ownership of the Virgins & Castle, we knew we wanted to create jobs and opportunities for talented people in our community.

"Just before lockdown we started planning with WCG how we would start our apprenticeship programmes, but that was sadly put on hold while the country had to stay home and we held our breathe on where the hospitality sector stood.

"Since re-opening the pub, we have been busy recruiting and we're doing so in a way to buck the trend for what it's like to work in hospitality. We're keen for the next generation of hospitality leaders to come through with a fresh perspective.

"It's not about long days and unsociable hours. We create exciting roles with a great focus on guest experience. We play an active role in our community and we invest in the physical and mental wellbeing of our teams.

"So the Future Careers Digital Market Place programme with Warwickshire County Council gave us a great outlet to be able to speak to young people in schools, colleges and employment programmes."

Leader of the Council and Conservative Group and Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, Councillor Izzi Seccombe said "As Warwickshire's economy kick-starts again, Warwickshire County Council's Economy and Skills team continues to work with businesses and education partners to connect those companies looking for talent and those people looking for work.

"Being able to do this through short films and making use of digital and social media means that we're communicating in a more dynamic and relevant way.

"It is our mission to help maintaining a strong supply of talent, whilst also providing opportunity for all sectors to gain new skills by presenting their business in a quite different digital world."

The footage recorded at the Virgins & Castle will be made available at the beginning of November and you can learn more about the job opportunities available by visiting their website.

If you're a business who would like to work with the Warwickshire County Council's in creating your own film piece their team are there to help set everything up! You can contact them on [email protected]