In April 2015 Arwyn was honoured to be elected President of the Culinary Association Wales following his retirement as a key advisor to the National Training Federation of Wales (NTfW) which he formerly chaired; Arwyn is Managing Director and Chairman of Cambrian Training Company, winner of the Apprenticeship Provider of the Year at the Apprenticeship Awards 2013.
Arwyn received his OBE in 2018 for his services to Education and Training in Wales and Arwyn continues to represent NTfW and Cambrian Training Company on a number of Regional and National Bodies including the RLSP Mid and West Wales and is a Director and Trustee of the British Food Trust.
Based in Welshpool, Cambrian Training Company’s core activity is the delivery of Work based learning apprenticeship programmes and Jobs Growth Wales opportunities for the Welsh Government’s Department of Education and Skills (DfES).
Arwyn maintains the company’s strength is its close working relationship with industry and the wider community, as this is critical for a sustainable future where training needs are demand led and not supply driven.
A farmer’s son, Arwyn left Builth Wells High School in 1978 to join the Army as an apprentice chef and has maintained his commitment to apprenticeship programmes throughout his working life with a very strong focus on people development. He continues to champion apprenticeship programmes as the gold standard in business and industry.
In 2004, he coached and mentored the Junior Welsh National Culinary Team to their first Olympic Gold Medal and was instrumental in running a pilot programme in Wales, which has led to a ground-breaking, craft-led apprenticeship for chefs in partnership with the British Food Trust and Pearson. Arwyn was recently awarded The Presidents Medal at World Chefs Congress 2018 in KL Malaysia in recognition the excellent work being done in Wales for the region.
