Costa Coffee to open first jobs academy in city (From Daily Echo)

New Southampton facility to offer apprenticeships to young unemployed

12:40pm Thursday 28th June 2012 in News

Costa Coffee to open first jobs academy in city

Costa coffee is offering unemployed youngsters an employment lifeline by opening the UK’s first Costa Academy in the city.

The new facility will create a host of apprenticeships and training opportunities within the company and is set to open next month.

The new academy is a £29,000 joint project between Costa and the local Junior Chamber of Commerce, JCI Southampton.

Costa, which has already trained 81 apprentices to date, hopes the academy will support those not in employment, education or training (NEETs) by equipping them with new skills and qualifications.

A spokesman for the company said: “We hope it will really help those who will leave school this summer with little or no qualifications, and give them opportunities to become apprentices in one of the 25 Costa stores regionally.

“The new academy will provide a second chance for young people to equip themselves with real qualifications, honing the skills they need to work for companies like Costa as well as giving them valuable life skills.”

Despite the fact that latest figures show there has been a fall in the number of people chasing a job in the south, 3.3 per cent of Southampton’s working age resident population is currently unemployed and claiming Job Seekers Allowance. Costa has invested £20,000 in the new facility with £9,000 coming from a National Lottery Grant to the JCI and will be located above the Costa branch in High Street, Southampton. The academy will be officially opened by the city mayor on July 6.

The academy will comprise a practical room, with coffee machines for barista training and a theory room.

Comments(9)

ohec says...
1:08pm Thu 28 Jun 12

Until there is a change of attitude towards the flipping burgers mentality amongst a lot of youngsters things will not change and a lot of parents are just as bad not wanting their little darlings doing this or that, we have to get back to the days when a job was a job and anything was better than being on the dole. Flipping burgers or serving coffee might not be the most glamorous of jobs but at least you can hold your head up high even if you only use it as a stepping stone, the fact that you are willing to work will always put you one jump ahead of the layabouts that don't want to work, when applying for other jobs.

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userds5050 says...
1:34pm Thu 28 Jun 12

A friend of mine studied law for four years to become a Barista and now you can just sign up to the Costa Academy. More dumbing down.

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jammyswine says...
1:54pm Thu 28 Jun 12

userds5050 wrote:
A friend of mine studied law for four years to become a Barista and now you can just sign up to the Costa Academy. More dumbing down.

Genius.

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Over the Edge says...
4:24pm Thu 28 Jun 12

Fair play to Costa, I personally do not use their coffee bars due to the price, but for a company investing it's own money into the young people of Southampton can only be a good thing.

I wish other companies would follow the lead of Costa and invest in the future of Southampton, yes some will say they will be getting cheap labour, however I know Costa pay their apprentices £100 a week, to a teenager that's a fortune.

Well Done Costa Coffee

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TimTam says...
5:40pm Thu 28 Jun 12

Goodness knows this country badly needs more skilled baristas. Perhaps Southampton will become the coffee capital of England!

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Poppy22 says...
1:34am Fri 29 Jun 12

ohec wrote:
Until there is a change of attitude towards the flipping burgers mentality amongst a lot of youngsters things will not change and a lot of parents are just as bad not wanting their little darlings doing this or that, we have to get back to the days when a job was a job and anything was better than being on the dole. Flipping burgers or serving coffee might not be the most glamorous of jobs but at least you can hold your head up high even if you only use it as a stepping stone, the fact that you are willing to work will always put you one jump ahead of the layabouts that don't want to work, when applying for other jobs.

Too often now I hear parents saying that their poor little darling teenagers won't get jobs in school/college holidays, or do jobs that aren't what they want to be doing as a career (which is often something totally unrealistic too!).
Time these spoilt children grew up and stopped sponging off their parents and earned their own money.
When we were at school and college, we worked weekends and "holidays" to get money to buy our clothes and pay for our social lives.
If teenagers were still doing that (which I appreciate a small proportion are), then they could be doing these "apprenticeships" on the job in Costa shops before they leave school or college, then be fully trained to work there or elsewhere when they leave school or college, and be far more likely to succeed at interviews because of their experience and improved communication skills.
Having said all that, it's great that Costa is doing something. Hopefully there'll be enough teenagers willing to go this route as a stepping stone to something better in future years - whether their own Costa shop or something else.
Parents need to stop molly coddling their children and encourage them out into work as early as possible, otherwise they'll never cope in the real world when they have to.

[quote][p][bold]ohec[/bold] wrote: Until there is a change of attitude towards the flipping burgers mentality amongst a lot of youngsters things will not change and a lot of parents are just as bad not wanting their little darlings doing this or that, we have to get back to the days when a job was a job and anything was better than being on the dole. Flipping burgers or serving coffee might not be the most glamorous of jobs but at least you can hold your head up high even if you only use it as a stepping stone, the fact that you are willing to work will always put you one jump ahead of the layabouts that don't want to work, when applying for other jobs.[/p][/quote]Too often now I hear parents saying that their poor little darling teenagers won't get jobs in school/college holidays, or do jobs that aren't what they want to be doing as a career (which is often something totally unrealistic too!). Time these spoilt children grew up and stopped sponging off their parents and earned their own money. When we were at school and college, we worked weekends and "holidays" to get money to buy our clothes and pay for our social lives. If teenagers were still doing that (which I appreciate a small proportion are), then they could be doing these "apprenticeships" on the job in Costa shops before they leave school or college, then be fully trained to work there or elsewhere when they leave school or college, and be far more likely to succeed at interviews because of their experience and improved communication skills. Having said all that, it's great that Costa is doing something. Hopefully there'll be enough teenagers willing to go this route as a stepping stone to something better in future years - whether their own Costa shop or something else. Parents need to stop molly coddling their children and encourage them out into work as early as possible, otherwise they'll never cope in the real world when they have to. Poppy22

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andysaints007 says...
1:36am Sat 30 Jun 12

userds5050 wrote:
A friend of mine studied law for four years to become a Barista and now you can just sign up to the Costa Academy. More dumbing down.

That's funny !!

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Markmag says...
9:53am Sat 30 Jun 12

userds5050 wrote:
A friend of mine studied law for four years to become a Barista and now you can just sign up to the Costa Academy. More dumbing down.

Very good!

To those moaning about the youth of today, every Costa is full of young, enthusiastic hard working staff. As are plenty of other jobs that will actually hire and train young people and treat them with respect. Theres work shy people at every age but "teenagers" and "youngsters" have far less opportunity open up to them than ever before.

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Ginger_cyclist says...
9:37pm Fri 6 Jul 12

Excellent, i have a costa on my doorstep, time to apply, like others have said, a job's a job and there aren't many so i should take it as an oppertunity.

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