I continually read, both in your Letters pages and other places, the moans and groans from the doom-and-gloom merchants about the quality of young people entering our industry.

I am pleased to say that the applications for the Young Chef Young Waiter competition have arrived at our offices in better numbers than ever before, and we are delighted with the first-class quality of them all.

We now have the difficult task of judging the entrants and choosing from them our 32 regional finalists. The list of successful applicants for the regional finals will be placed on the website www.ycyw.co.uk from tomorrow (28 July).

I would like to thank all those who have entered.

The competition is now in its 22nd year and we are trying to trace all previous winners. I would ask any previous winners, or others who know their whereabouts, to e-mail me at: david@baldwinsomega.com.

David Baldwin
Chairman, Restaurant Association, London

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