The new e-academy has been launched as a standalone division of Virtual College in direct response to the success of its Food Safety & Hygiene Level 2 certification online course, which has been completed by almost 34,000 e-learners in the catering industry nationally since its launch in October 2005.

Lesley Ord, operations director at Virtual College, explained, "There is a substantial and continuing education-and-training requirement for those in the food, drink, and hospitality sectors that can often be compounded by challenges relating to shift working and seasonal employment.

The Food, Drink & Hospitality e-Academy has recruited three industry specialists as founding partners to deliver professional training expertise.

• Food specialist - Verner Wheelock, chairman of Verner Wheelock Associates, one of the UK's leading training providers for the food sector. Since 1990, the business, based near Skipton in North Yorkshire, has worked for numerous blue-chip organisations, also contributing to government policy.
• Drink specialist - Dr Rosemarie Pearson, who, in 1989, was the principal founder of Sudbury, Suffolk-based Dialog Training. She has worked with a wide range of businesses, charities, and local authorities, among them Arla Foods, Redbridge Borough Council, Nestle Water, the Royal British Legion, CocaCola Enterprises, Co-op Supermarkets, and Anglia Crown Catering.
• Hospitality specialist - Tim Sayers, who runs Develop to Grow in North Scarle, Lincolnshire. For more than 30 years, the company has been providing business development advice centred on customer service excellence to business start-ups, small to medium size enterprises and multi-national organisations. Tim is also marketing and selling courses on behalf of the Food, Drink & Hospitality e-Academy.

The e-Academy is currently offering a starter suite of five eLearning modules: Food Hygiene, Customer Care, Fire Safety, Manual Handling, and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH).

Membership in the e-Academy is available to both individuals and groups, with a number of launch incentives in place.