Five apprentices graduate at Cardiff Bay’s voco St David’s hotel

Cardiff Bay’s landmark luxury five star hotel and spa, voco St David’s, is celebrating the graduation of five apprentices with Wales’ leading independent training company in the hospitality sector.

Not resting on its laurels, the hotel “plans to drive forward the apprenticeship programme into 2027 as part of our overall people strategy.”

Loreta Kaciusiene, Brandon Jones and Lauren Crudge all graduated with Apprenticeships in Hospitality Supervision & Leadership while colleagues Oleksiy Skidanov and Kanchan James have achieved Foundation Apprenticeships in Hospitality Services and Customer Services, respectively.

A sixth apprentice, Regina Miklos, the hotel’s spa manager, is set to graduate next spring when she completes her Higher Apprenticeship in Management & Leadership (Level 5).

The hotel’s apprenticeship partner is Welshpool-based Cambrian Training Company, whose autumn graduation ceremony for more than 100 apprentices from across Wales was held at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells.

Lauren has been promoted to conference and events assistant team leader since starting her apprenticeship and is due to become conference and events manager in January.

“Doing my apprenticeship has definitely improved my knowledge and understanding of the department how to run a team,” said Lauren, who is considering progressing to a Higher Apprenticeship in Management in the future. “I have recommended the apprenticeship to a colleague who is potentially going to be taking my current job.”

Loreta is food and beverage team leader at the hotel and has been recognised for her customer service excellence.

Having progressed from a Foundation Apprenticeship, Brandon is a food and beverage team member in the hotel’s restaurant, Kanchan is a therapist in the hotel’s spa and Oleksiy, who is Ukrainian, is a housekeeping team member.

Lauren Bailey, voco St David’s HR business partner, said:

“Apprenticeships are helping us grow internal talent, strengthen capability and invest in the long-term success of our workforce.

“We have seen tangible results through promotions and employees taking on expanded roles and responsibilities. This investment in development has had a positive impact on employee retention, as our teams can see genuine opportunities for growth and progression.

“Working with Cambrian Training has made the process simple and effective. Their regular workplace visits and ongoing support help integrate learning into daily operation, making it easier for both learners and managers to balance development with the demands of a busy hotel environment.”

She praised the five graduates for successfully combining learning with their busy work schedules.

“Lauren has been very enthusiastic about her apprenticeship and has applied her learning in her job role whilst also taking on extra responsibilities voluntarily,” she said. “She has started attending weekly meetings and has grown in confidence, making valuable contributions and having an influence outside of her department which is lovely to see.

“Loreta is a real asset to the hotel. She always gives guests a warm welcome and has won a lot of internal awards and positive reviews.

“As a non-English speaker, Oleskiy has shown admirable commitment to complete his apprenticeship, while Kanchan is one of our most engaged employees who is hungry to learn and has improved her digital skills particularly.

“Brandon is a long-term employee who has been committed to his development and has applied his skills by helping new starters with their onboarding and enhancing his customer service skills with our guests.”

Cambrian Training Company hospitality training officer, Leah Williams, praised the hotel for supporting the apprentices to develop their careers. “Through its commitment to apprenticeships, the hotel is retaining talented staff by developing their skills and knowledge,” she said.

“Completing Essential Skills qualifications in Maths, English and Digital Literacy is a significant achievement, particularly for learners returning to education or whose first language is not English. Oleksiy, Kanchan, Brandon and Loreta should be especially proud of achieving these qualifications alongside their apprenticeships.”

The voco St David’s graduates with Cambrian Training Company hospitality training officer Leah Williams.