UK talent is world class

Where does the world's top young chef come from - Paris, New York, Tokyo? The answer is none of these. In fact, he comes from Stoke-on-Trent and works in a Bristol hotel.

It is a wonderful tribute to the skills of chefs in the UK that 20-year-old Simon Hulstone achieved the gold medal in the latest International Youth Skill Olympics held in Lyon in France. But it is a shame that few people seem to know anything about the olympics.

They began 33 years ago and give young people around the world an opportunity to compete in craft skills that vary from hairdressing to stonemasonry. This year, 28 nations battled it out in 40 different skills, watched by an amazing 200,000 visitors.

Simon not only won gold, but scored the highest marks of any competitor across all classes. This was a remarkable achievement for the UK, so long regarded as a culinary backwater by some other nations.

It was a different story back in 1989 when the olympics were held in Birmingham and the medals were presented by the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher. She was apparently putout at presenting so many medals to other countries' competitors and so few to the British, and called for something to be done to improve matters.

This led to the creation of UK Skills which, with the backing of some Government money, organises the team to represent the UK. Even so, the support covers only part of the costs and many competitors and their mentors have to find substantial amounts from their own pockets.

Midlands chef Peter Griffiths was Simon's mentor and UK judge, although he couldn't vote on Simon's cooking and wasn't allowed to see him during the competition, which lasted four days. In addition, Simon received considerable support from his boss, Michael Kitts.

Simon's victory could not have come at a better time. The recent television programme on kitchen violence left many people dismayed at the prospects of encouraging talented youngsters to become chefs. Now we can rejoice at the real picture: dedicated individuals who are on top of the world.