The catering industry has become more appealing due to a couple of Hairy Bikers, a foul mouthed chef and a school dinner’s campaign.

In a survey of over 2,860 Brits, almost one in four respondents said they dreamt of opening their own pub or restaurant. Only 19 per cent of us dream of becoming a fire fighter, 11 per cent admit to dreaming of becoming a doctor and 8 per cent dream of becoming an astronaut.

More than 80 per cent of Britons believe that the catering industry has become more appealing and this has been backed up by a leading catering university. Could this be down to a couple of Hairy Bikers, a foul mouthed chef and a school dinner’s campaign?

The survey, conducted by www.Caterer.com, a leading online recruitment site, surveyed over 2,860 Brits to find the most appealing UK careers.

THE RESULTS n 26 per cent of respondents dreamt of becoming a professional sportsman n 24 per cent opening own pub or restaurant n 19 per cent fire fighter n 11 per cent doctor n eight per cent astronaut THE ANALYSIS When the 24 per cent of respondents were asked why they dream of opening their own pub, 92 per cent said the hospitality industry had become increasingly appealing and celebrity chef personalities, such as Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver injected fun into the industry.

Respondents said their opinion of the hospitality and catering industry had changed over recent years; 81 per cent of which said they saw the passionate aspect of the sector through television and celebrity personalities.

Respondents also admitted to taking an interest in at least one catering television programme and 21 per cent of these respondents claim to have had no previous interest in cooking.

Ian Burke from Caterer.com comments: “We have certainly noticed an increase in the amount of people looking for careers within hospitality and firmly believe that strong television personalities, such as Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey have made the sector appealing to a whole new variety of people.”

Michael Coaker, Lecturer in Culinary Arts at Thames Valley University says: “It doesn’t surprise me at all that the catering industry has become increasingly popular within the UK.

This year has been one of our most successful years in recruiting students for our full time Chef Restaurant diploma course and a new kitchen has just been fitted to cater with the high demand of students.

“High expectations and standards within UK hospitality have also meant foundation degrees are proving to be more and more popular with chefs currently working in the industry, updating their culinary skills.”