CHEFS at the University of York will be able to hone their culinary skills at a new kitchen academy.

The new craft academy in the kitchens at the National Science Learning Centre (NSLC) on the university's Heslington campus was opened yesterday by Professor John Holman, director of the NSLC, and Keith Lilley, the University of York's director of facilities management.

The new academy has been established by the university's commercial services department to develop the skills of kitchen staff who make hundreds of thousands of meals each year.

Under the guidance and instruction of award-winning university chefs Andrew Wood and Stuart Scott, catering production staff will be able to refresh their knowledge, and master new skills and techniques, to meet the ever-increasing demand from students, staff and conference visitors for culinary excellence.

At the academy, students will build up a range of skills from basic sauce making to masterclass fine dining, which are judged using nationally-recognised quality assurance criteria.

Mr Wood, executive chef, said: "Having a permanent base from which to train and develop the workforce, away from the everyday pressures and interruptions of their usual environment, is hugely beneficial."

Mr Wood left a job at the Ritz to move north and last year beat eight other finalists to be named University Chef Of The Year in a new competition by the University Caterers Organisation.

His menu of pea and ham soup, followed by a meal of Whitby cod with egg and potatoes, and Yorkshire parkin with Wensleydale ice cream for dessert in the competition's final cooking challenge, impressed the judges.

The meal has been cooked for special chancellor and vice-chancellor dinners and university conferences, but a similar, adapted version is also on the menu in the student dining room.

The craft academy's launch comes in the wake of the university's triumph in the University Caterers Organisation (TUCO) annual Chefs Challenge competition, in Blackpool.

The university team, including Mr Wood, Simon Woods, the production chef at the Roger Kirk Centre, and Ian Dickson, the production chef at Wentworth College, won a gold award and a best hygiene award in the competition against 20 teams of university chefs.

The teams had two hours to produce a four-course meal for four people.

It was the first time a single team had won two awards in the same competition, which is judged by a panel of industry experts.