A Lake District based hotel group has a new chocolatier on its books, thanks to a training course with the Yorkshire Academy of Chocolate and Patisserie.

Resident chef de partie at Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa Traviss Locke completed the chocolate making qualification at the academy run by international chocolatier and consultant Andrew Thwaite.

The chocolatier course, which was fully funded through the English Lakes Hotels Personal Development Fund, has equipped Traviss with a range of chocolate making technical skills and recipes.

Traviss, 34, has always had a passion for making his own chocolate and was keen to explore further opportunities for learning new skills and experimenting with the latest innovative techniques.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the course training and gained tonnes of valuable experience,” explains Traviss. “We each had a practical chocolate making assignment to complete and I made an enormous chocolate egg which I donated to the hotel.”

“I’m incredibly grateful to English Lakes Hotels for supporting me through this course and also in attaining my City and Guilds Level 3 chef de partie standard qualification through the hotel group’s own Culinary Academy.”

Traviss’ giant chocolate egg was displayed at Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa reception, with guests entered into a prize draw to acquire it. All proceeds from the draw were then donated to the hotel group’s Sam’s Club Charity which supports local charities and good causes.

Michael Kay from English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues says: “Our personal development fund is available for team members to upskill existing talents, develop their career skills or broaden their horizons.”

“Training programmes or courses can be mutually agreed in most disciplines. The aim is to get the best out of all our teams and give everybody the opportunity to progress in their career choices. It also helps to engender a stronger work life balance for our employees.”