A number of key companies and organisations in the UK hospitality sector recognise and support the Academy’s objectives to improve the quality of front-of-house service. As Academy supporters they recognise the aim to raise the profile of front-of-house hospitality as a viable career choice and as such benefit from association with the official professional body and leading authority on front-of-house service.
AFWS is proud to be supported by the following organisations:
AFWS Prestige Partners
The AA has been inspecting and rewarding hotels since 1908, and is proud to offer one of the UK’s leading accommodation recognition schemes. The knowledge and experience of the AA’s inspectorate is unrivalled, and an AA rating is one of the most trusted forms of recognition in the hospitality industry. The AA is continually developing and evolving so that it can offer even greater benefits to our AA-recognised establishments.
Champagne Piper-Heidsieck was founded in 1785 by Florens-Louis Heidsieck. Since its creation, Champagne Piper-Heidsieck has always been associated with the greats and the goods; from Marie Antoinette Queen of France to Marilyn Monroe. Champagne Piper-Heidsieck is now the third largest Champagne exporter. With its British distributor, First Drinks, the emphasis for the brand is to gain new distribution channels in the on-trade.
Champagne Piper-Heidsieck has been part of the Rémy Cointreau group since 1988 and benefits from the expertise of the celebrated Chef de Caves Régis Camus. London’s prestigious International Wine Challenge has awarded Régis Camus the Sparkling Winemaker of the Year Trophy in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, which underlines its efforts to be among the best made Champagne.
Champagne Piper-Heidsieck is the title sponsor of the UK Sommelier of the Year competition.
Lanson International UK is the ‘House of Brands’, offering champagne solutions to fit all requirements within the category. Houses represented by Lanson International include Champagne Lanson and Lanson Noble Cuvée, Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines and Tsarine. Lanson International believes strongly in viewing champagne as a wine rather than purely a label. It is with this in mind that L’Académie de Lanson is being launched in 2011 – a concept designed to engage with and enlighten all champagne drinkers – from the consumer wishing to explore the varying styles of champagne, to members of the food, drink and hospitality trade, looking to understand, stock and serve a balanced champagne offering.
The group’s signature brand, Champagne Lanson, was founded in 1760 by Francois Delamotte, making it the fourth oldest House in the world. In 2010, Champagne Lanson celebrated its 250th year, marked with the release of the Little Black Book of Champagne.
The current Chef de Cave, Jean Paul Gandon, has been with the house for 39 years and is proud to remain true to the house style and the traditional and enduring crafting methods that avoid the use of malolactic fermentation. All of the champagnes, even non-vintage, are aged in our cellars for at least 36 months to ensure a resulting crisp, fresh, pure taste, with an exceptional purity of fruit making them the perfect start choice for drinks with friends, meal or any celebration. Champagne Lanson has a wide range of wines including the Black, Gold, Rosé and Ivory Labels, Noble Cuvée and Extra Age champagnes.
Besserat de Bellefon was first founded in Aÿ in 1843 by Eduard Besserat. In 1930, his son, Edmond was challenged by the owner of Paris restaurant ‘La Samaritaine de Luxe’ to create a light sparkling champagne of great finesse that could be drunk throughout a meal. If successful, the restaurateur promised to buy a thousand cases. Edmond created the Cuvée de Moines range and won the business. The wines are produced exclusively using the cremant process. The result is a creamier wine, with deep aromas and a lingering soft mouth texture – the perfect match to food. Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines is proud to support the UK Restaurant Manager of the Year awards, and will be served at the 2011 gala dinner.
Tsarine, the final brand within Lanson International, again offers something different to the category. Tsarine was originally created to honour the Russian Tsars in the nineteenth century, one of the most important markets for Champagne at the time. These champagnes offer an elegant and slightly richer style with a luxury look. One third of the wine does not go through malolactic fermentation in order to achieve complexity and freshness – in keeping with the other wines of Lanson International UK.
L’Académie de Lanson encompasses the aim of Lanson International to educate all champagne drinkers and encourages the exploration of its House styles and the category as a whole. www.lacademiedelanson.co.uk
The National Skills Academy, powered by Benchmark, is about identifying the best places to learn and to make this excellence more readily available, provide industry and learners with an assurance that where you see the logo it means excellence and adds value to both businesses and individuals.
In the current economic climate employers need people with the right skills and who share their desire for excellence. Talented individuals want the opportunity to shine and those who carry a National Skills Academy logo on their cv have the best opportunity to secure not only jobs, but to share in the growth of the best employers.
OpenTable is a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants.
The OpenTable network delivers the convenience of online restaurant reservations to diners and the operational benefits of a computerised reservation book to restaurants. OpenTable has more than 15,000 restaurant customers, and, since its inception in 1998, has seated more than 175 million diners around the world.
The company has its headquarters in San Francisco, California, and the OpenTable service is available throughout the US, as well as in Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and the UK. OpenTable also owns and operates toptable.com, a leading restaurant reservation site in the UK.
The Savoy Educational Trust is an independent, grant giving charitable trust, whose main aim is to advance and develop education, training and qualifications within the hospitality industry.
The Trustees award grants for a wide variety of hospitality related projects to: educational establishments to enhance training and education faciltities for their hospitality departments; associations to support those initiatives that will make a real difference to the hospitality industry; charitable organisations/social enterprises with specific hospitality related projects; and individuals studying hospitality.
The Savoy Educational Trust generously donates a number of travel scholarships and bursaries as prizes in the Academy of Food & Wine Service Annual Awards for Excellence.
The Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (Instituto Español de Comercio Exterior, ICEX) is the authorised governmental platform for the promotion of Spanish exports and Spanish companies’ international growth.
Vinos de España – or Wines from Spain – is ICEX’s branding for a wide range of promotional activities designed to inform consumers abroad about quality Spanish wines. The organisations website has been set up for a professionals in the wine world (importers, distributors, journalists) it offers news, statistics and a range of up-to-date information.
We work with many different partners and supporters throughout the year on a number of projects and programmes. Currently we’re working closely with the London International Wine Trade Fair on their programme for the exhibition May 17th-19th 2011. Click here for more information.
AFWS Partners
Aramark
Chewton Glen Hotel
De Vere Academy
De Vere Hotels
Dorchester Hotel
Elite Hotels
Fairmont St Andrews
The Goring
Hand Picked Hotels
Hotel du Vin Group
Hilton Hotels UK
Lanesborough Hotel
Malmaison Group
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels
Q Group of Hotels
Ritz Hotel, London
The Rocco Forte Collection
Savoy Educational Trust (SET)
Sodexo
Vineyard at Stockcross
AFWS Supporters
For more information on becoming a supporter of the Academy, please contact Sophie Roberts-Brown on sophie@afws.co.uk or by phoning 020 8661 4646.
Links to other Industry Bodies
Academy Of Culinary Arts
British Institute of Innkeeping (BII)
British Hospitality Association
Court of Master Sommeliers (MS)
Institute of Hospitality
Master Innholders (MI)
National Skills Academy Hospitality
Restaurant Association
People1st
Springboard
Tourism Society
Wine & Spirit Educational Trust (WSET)
