A HOSPITALITY student from Clevedon has been named Apprentice of the Year during an awards ceremony at Weston College.

Maz Bennett recently completed an apprenticeship at the Congresbury hotel, Doubletree by Hilton at Cadbury House.

During the course, the 18-year-old spent most of his time at the hotel with his college lecturers regularly visiting to assess his progress. This included how he interacted with customers, his food service and general presentation.

Max has now focused on working in the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar and Grill and even met the famous chef during his last visit.

He said: “The apprentice scheme has been brilliant for me and I’d totally recommend it for anyone thinking about doing a similar thing.

“It’s much more hands-on and as I didn’t want to sit in a classroom all day was the ideal solution for me.

“Working at Cadbury House and in particular in the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill has been amazing.

“There’s no margin for error and you can’t get that experience in the classroom but the team here has been great helping me along.

“My goal is to gain my customer services qualification and work my way up the ladder.”