Blackpool South MP Chris Webb celebrates 100,000 new hospitality job opportunities for young people

Blackpool South MP Chris Webb has welcomed a new government partnership aimed at creating 100,000 job opportunities for young people across the country who are not in employment, education or training.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is working with UKHospitality to deliver the initiative, which will see 16 of Britain’s biggest hospitality employers offer paid jobs, work experience and training to unemployed people aged 18 to 24 over the next three years.

Participating employers include Nando’s, McDonald’s, Marriott, Whitbread, Wagamama, Fuller’s and Merlin Entertainments, which operates many of Blackpool’s attractions. Some young people will be recruited directly into roles, while others will gain workplace experience, with a guaranteed interview and the prospect of a job at the end of the programme.

Mr Webb, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality, said the sector had played an important role in his own career and could help more young people take their first steps into employment.

“Hospitality and tourism gave me my start in the world of work and I’m proud that, through a new government partnership, they’re about to give that same opportunity to another 100,000 young people across the country,” he said.

The MP said he had been making the case to the government that hospitality was well placed to support its ambitions to increase youth employment and spread economic growth across the country.

“From our biggest cities to coastal and rural communities, hospitality and tourism create jobs where people actually live, in places other industries too often overlook. I’m so pleased that the government has listened,” Mr Webb said.

He added that the initiative could bring tangible benefits to people in Blackpool and provide new routes into work for local young people. “This is real opportunity for local people. This is building a better Blackpool,” he said.