Developing Careers in Coffee and Hospitality
Piccoloco is an independent specialty coffee business focused on exploring coffee and creating meaningful opportunities within hospitality. Alongside serving high-quality coffee, we are committed to supporting people to develop skills, confidence and clear pathways into careers in coffee and hospitality, showing that the industry can offer long-term, rewarding opportunities.
With support from SPF funding, we have been able to employ a hospitality apprentice through the NSCG Group, creating an opportunity to invest in someone at an early stage of their career and demonstrate what is possible within hospitality and coffee.
From day one, a key focus has been customer service and communication. Working in a busy, public-facing environment has helped the apprentice build confidence quickly, learning how to engage with customers, respond under pressure, and work collaboratively with the wider team. These people skills are developing week on week and are already making a visible difference on the shop floor.
Crucially, the apprentice has also been exposed to coffee knowledge at a deeper level. They have taken part in in-house coffee tastings as part of our quality control process and have begun to understand coffee beyond the cup, from flavour and quality to the care and craft involved. This opens the door to future progression, whether within hospitality management or towards a more specialised career in coffee.
Through this project, we aim to show that hospitality is not just a job, but a skilled, meaningful career that can have a real impact on people’s lives, particularly in a post-Covid world where connection, service and community matter more than ever.
