Hospitality entrepreneur Candice Fonseca urges young people to consider a career in hospitality as her Delifonseca Dockside business in Liverpool struggles to recruit new talent. Tony McDonough reports

One of Liverpool’s most successful hospitality entrepreneurs Candice Fonseca is urging young people in the city region to consider careers in hospitality.

Similar to many restaurants, bars, hotels and cafes across the city region, Candice says finding staff post-pandemic for her Delifonseca Dockside business is a struggle. She founded the restaurant and deli back in 2010.

During COVID-19 hospitality venues closed for long periods. This saw staff drift away and find work in other sectors. On Monday LBN reported how bars in the city region were struggling to find and retain door security staff.

Candice said: “The pandemic hit Liverpool’s hospitality businesses hard and we’re still feeling the effects of it. Although things now feel less restricted, restaurants and bars such as ours are facing the next big hurdle as we try to recruit.

“Even though we retained most of our workforce, some decided it was time to rethink their career futures. They either retrained or joined other industries.”

Throughout COVID Delifonseca adapted its operations in a bid to keep the business open. It also committed to delivering food across the city. Customers could opt for chef-prepared meals to collect or to be delivered to their homes.

They could buy the entire food hall product range. This included specialist and everyday groceries, meat from its in-house butchers Edge & Son, cooking kits, and cheese and wine. The website was also changed to enable customers to browse and purchase some of the restaurant’s most popular products.

Candice is looking to dispel the stigma surrounding the sector by employing a number of young people herself. Her business has done so via the Government’s Kickstarter scheme and directly in roles including front of house, barista and chef.

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“I just think that children are rarely encouraged to pursue a career in our industry,” she added.”It can be one of the most rewarding and entertaining careers out there. Each day is different, meeting new people delivering and sharing in essentially pleasurable interactions. It really can be a true vocation.

“And for everyone else, it is still worth doing as you work towards a different goal or vocation. So much so that I think parents should be insisting their kids get a part-time hospitality. It gets them into the concept of work and build all of the following.

“The list of skills that accompany hospitality work is infinite, such as multi-tasking, customer service etiquette, leadership, and teamwork. You are challenging yourself constantly every day, and you build up crucial problem-solving skills.

“`You learn how to deal with people from all walks of life and how to sell both products and you. That confidence is a real life-skill and will help them come up trumps in interviews and other work environments.”

“Confidence and social skills seem to be what young people today are lacking as they have been cooped up staring at screens due to the pandemic. With the talent pool going dry, I think this is the perfect opportunity to empower the young people in our city and get them in the business when we need them the most.”

She added: “I’m not saying that hospitality is for everyone, but the industry has a lot going for it. Some will find their career for life, and some won’t, however they will all have an insightful outlook on the industry and important credentials that will stay with them for the long run.

“Throughout life, from my experience, confidence is key and it’s these transferable and adaptable skills that our younger generation need. Let’s push our youth to gain these fundamental abilities and have an enjoyable time whilst they do so.”