Rookie Programme Class of 2017 Announced

BarLifeUK & Maxxium are proud to announce the 12 bartenders that will make up the 2017/18 Rookie Programme.

The BarLifeUK & Maxxium Rookie Programme is the only training programme of its kind in the world. Designed to give up and coming industry professionals with less than 18 months experience behind a cocktail bar, a giant leg up with their career.

The class of 2015 now making big waves in the industry
The class of 2015 now making big waves in the industry

The free year long training programme will bring the 12 bartenders together every month for training on every aspect of the industry from some of the countries leading experts.

Hundreds of bartenders, bar backs and floor staff from around the UK applied to be part of this years Rookie Programme making the selection process harder than ever before. In conjunction with David Miles from Maxxium, BarLifeUK read through every application before coming up with a shortlist who were all spoken too.

In the end (with only minimal arguing) the 12 bartenders joining us on this years adventure are:

  • Jordan Comrie, Birnam Brassarie, Scotland
  • Daniel McManus, Blythswood Square Hotel, Glasgow
  • Brendan Soprano, Writer’s Block, Liverpool
  • Neil McAllister, Mojo, Manchester
  • Danielle Fazekas, Original Sin, London
  • Nathan King, London Cocktail Club, London
  • Gisellia Moore, Hyde & Co, Bristol
  • Shaun Hall, Vice & Co, Lincoln
  • Davide Leanza, Untitled, London
  • James Cunningham, Hawksmoor, London
  • Tom Godfrey, Red Light, Bristol
  • Charlotte Crystal, Trailer Happiness, London

A massive congratulations to this dozen and we look forward to seeing them grow in the coming 12 months and many years that follow. Thank you to all those who applied but didn’t make it, we wish there was room for all of you.

The first few sessions are already planned and are going to be something truly special. This year we will be picking one of the sessions each month to Live Stream on Facebook so follow the BarLifeUK Facebook page and you can get a glimpse of what a special opportunity this is.

Once again huge thanks go out to our partners Maxxium who help make this fantastic and important training programme possible. As David Miles points out the Rookie Programme has become the most anticipated annual training programme in the UK:

‘Maxxium UK and Mixxit are delighted to be supporting the Rookie programme again. As the quality of the applications showed, it has fast become one of the most desirable and respected training schemes in the on trade, and we are all really excited about its return’

Keep an eye on BarLifeUK to see what this years lucky 12 get up to and how they progress.