WATCH Griffith College has the right ingredients to advance hospitality careers with the BA in Bar Management Apprenticeship

Griffith College Limerick’s BA in Bar Management Apprenticeship Programme offers learners a comprehensive set of skills needed to succeed in the bar trade. Picture: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick. In collaboration with Griffith College

Griffith College students can gain a QQI Level 7 BA in Bar Management while earning and learning

Griffith College, in partnership with the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), is the coordinating provider for the Bar Manager Apprenticeship. The three-year programme is designed to equip learners with the wide range of skills required to operate a successful bar and to meet the evolving needs of the bar trade, earning while they are learning.

The course content was developed and is overseen by a consortium of bar trade employers: The Old Quarter Limerick, Paris Texas Bar Kilkenny, Silken Thomas Kildare, Tullys Bar Carlow and the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), with Griffith College as the coordinating provider.

advertisement
advertisement

advertisement
advertisement

advertisement
advertisement

advertisement
advertisement

What does the BA in Bar Management cover?

The programme covers contemporary bar issues: legal and regulatory requirements; finance and operational management; food and beverage management; food safety; personal development and leadership management; commercial skills; social media and marketing; human resource management;  communications; procurement; lean strategies; and sustainable operations.

The programme has been validated with QQI, incorporating a significant update to the content and scheduling based on feedback from apprentices who graduated from the programme. The programme provides apprentice bar managers with a wide range of skills required to operate an efficient, effective, and compliant bar while delivering an excellent, consistent customer and staff experience.

Programme Director Eilish Kearney says the course provides the perfect mix of practical and theoretical education from staff with a wide range of experience. “The BA in Bar Management Apprenticeship is supported by and working in collaboration with the Vintners Federation of Ireland. The lecturing team are an experienced body of lecturers that bring in both hospitality and business management experience across many different areas.

 ”Throughout the duration of your years within the actual program itself, you get to experience an evolution of module development and delivery from bar management, stock management, beverage, and food. You also get to experience both the theoretical and the practical. Students within this programme learn about industry relevance, bar operations, trends, marketing, finance, HR, and all that goes into the operational side of running a bar.”

Current student Lauren Meehan spoke about her experience on the course, saying, “Hospitality is basically in my blood, and I’ve always loved working with people and getting to meet all kinds of people from all over the world. I love the course so much, and one day a week I do the theoretical side at Griffith College Limerick, and then I do the rest of my week here at the Old Quarter doing the practical side.

“At Griffith College Limerick I learn everything from standard operational procedures all the way down to how to make menus and how to do pricing, everything you need to know to work in a pub. And the best thing of all, the course is paid for by my employer here at the Old Quarter.”

Fellow learner Jack Ryan agreed the mix of theoretical and on-the-job learning was beneficial. He said, “ The theoretical side of the course is one day a week in Griffith College Limerick. I’m here at Flannery’s four days a week doing the practical side of the work in the bar.

“We learn everything about the bar trade. We learn everything from management to operations to stocktake, to anything you can think of about the bar. I’d highly recommend the BA in Bar Management in Griffith College Limerick to anyone that’s looking to further a career in hospitality.”

JJ Mulcahy, owner of the Old Quarter Pub & Townhouse, said the programme comes from a long relationship between Griffith College and the Old Quarter, where students would spend time at the establishment to “learn about the bar trade and learn about the kitchen”.  

Mr Mulcahy said, “The Apprenticeship Council of Ireland were looking for submissions for new apprenticeships. So, I explained to Griffith College what the bar trade was about, how it should be. For most people, they don’t see the bar trade as a career; they only ever see it as a stopgap. So we looked at how we could incorporate the bar manager role as an apprenticeship, and that’s where it all started.”

“Now it’s a level seven degree programme with QQI recognition, which is 180 credits, which is the same as any degree programme in any other college,” Mr Mulcahy explains, adding, “I sit as chairman of the programme development board and also chairman of the consortium steering group that leads the apprenticeship and developed the apprenticeship.”

This programme is funded by Generation Apprenticeship, a major state-funded expansion initiative aimed at more than doubling learners from diverse backgrounds using the apprenticeship route.

Enrolments normally take place each January and September. The benefits for apprentices engaging with the apprenticeship include, but are not limited to, successful candidates receiving a QQI Level 7 BA in Bar Management, earning while they are learning, and receiving support from Griffith College through the apprenticeship programme.

Apprentices gain an enhanced skill set, creating a pathway to higher-paid roles.  Griffith College provides a full third-level college campus with resources to support apprentices, and the programme, because it is on the national framework of qualifications, provides progression routes for those who wish to pursue further study.

Find out more through the Griffith College website HERE