The Craft Guild of Chefs has announced the semi-finalists and finalists of the Young National Chef of the Year 2014.

The 15 semi-finalists were seeded from competitions including The Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Awards, Chaine des Rotisseurs Young Chef, Young Welsh Chef of the Year, Young Scottish Chef of the year, Young Game Chef of the Year, Young Grampian Chef of the Year, Young North East Chef of the Year, South West Young Chef of the Year, The Master Chefs of Great Britain Young Chef of the Year, North West Chef of the Year, Guernsey Young Chef of the Year and UK Skills.

The Young National Chef of the Year semi-finalists will compete on the following dates:

SHEFFIELD - HEAT ONE - 10 June - Sheffield City College, Sheffield:

Rory Welch, The Bridge Tavern, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Luke Selby, Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, Oxfordshire
Thomas Lawson, Rafters Restaurant, Sheffield
Craig Bateman, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Compass Group
Ruth Hansom, The Ritz, London
James Goodyear, Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, Oxfordshire

LONDON - HEAT TWO - 25 June - Le Cordon Bleu, London:

Nathan Cornwell, Lucknam Park, Bath
Connor Godfrey, The Ritz, London
Ricki Weston, South Lodge Hotel, Horsham, Sussex
Daniel Aires, Highlands College, Jersey, Channel Islands
Danny Hoang, Viajante, London
Claire Willett, Wyboston Lakes, Bedfordshire
Daniel Lee, Brooklands Hotel, Surrey
Antonia Morosi, Westminster Kingsway College, London
April Lily Partridge, The Club at The Ivy, London

The top five scorers will then compete against the three finalists - Julien Pickersgill, British Culinary Federation Young Chef of the Year, Josh Bingham, the highest achiever of the Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate awards and the highest achiever of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Awards of Excellence - at The Restaurant Show on Tuesday, October 7th.

Steve Munkley, Vice President of the Craft Guild of Chefs and chairman of judges says: “It’s a privilege to be involved in a competition that attracts this calibre of chef. Every one of them has already demonstrated outstanding talent and skills and I look forward to seeing what they produce in the heats and final.”

Mark Sargeant, Young National Chef of the Year Ambassador, adds: “It’s a huge honour for me to be this year's ambassador for Young National Chef of the Year and I can foresee it becoming an important and highly regarded stepping stone in the industry, following in the footsteps of The National Chef of the Year, which I won back in 2006. There are so many fantastic young chefs coming through right now and I'm very excited about mentoring some of these as part of my role in the competition.”

Stefan Horsnell, category marketing director, Unilever Food Solutions, the company behind the Knorr brand comments: “Congratulations to all the talented young chefs who’ve made it through to the semi-finals this year. At KNORR® we believe in rewarding and nurturing young talent, which is why we’ve supported this competition since its launch. Last year we witnessed dedication and genius at the final, and can’t wait to see what’s in store for us this year. We’ll look forward to seeing how the competition unfolds.”

The winner and runners up will be revealed along with The National Chef of the Year 2014 at an awards ceremony following the final.

In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall and restrict access – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 12 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 500,000 followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.