51Âþ»­

Restaurant chain KFC has named 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) its ‘Equipment and Service Supplier of the Year’ in recognition of the degree apprenticeship programme the university designed for the global firm’s managers in the UK.

51Âþ»­ scooped the accolade at the KFC Partners Conference & Awards, where it was also shortlisted for the ‘Equipment and Services Partner of the Year’ and ‘Services Account Manager of the Year’ categories alongside more than 100 other suppliers.

KFC

The university has worked with KFC since 2013, after winning a brief to create a Business Management (BA Hons) course for the company.

“Our people and our teams are really important to us at KFC, and this award goes to a partner that continues to help us support our people and their growth,” said Chris Taylor, Head of People Capability at KFC UK, part of the Yum! Brands Group.

“Thanks to our partnership with 51Âþ»­, over the past six years we’ve been able to offer our employees opportunities to develop, expand their knowledge and gain qualifications they can carry forward into their future.

“The impact the programmes have on our people to grow both academically, and in the work place, sets us aside from our competitors. And we are super proud that over 70% of our employees on the degree programme graduate with First Class Honours.”

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51Âþ»­’s course has been specifically designed to enable staff to combine work with study, attending lectures and completing assignments under the expert guidance of academics in the Faculty of Business and Law.

It is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute, which means the graduates automatically gain a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management along with their BA (Hons) degree.

Three cohorts have already graduated and a fourth is due to graduate in summer 2020.

Professor David Mba, Pro Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media at 51Âþ»­, said: “This award recognises the outstanding value we offer our partners and reiterates our commitment to supporting national and international commercial organisations”.