Gold Service Scholarship 2025: Dinner by Heston manager Isabella Condon scoops prestigious award

A inferior adjunct manager astatine Dinner by Heston Blumenthal successful London was named the 2025 Gold Service Scholar connected Monday night, a starring accolade for young beforehand of location unit successful hospitality. 

Irish-born Isabella Condon, 25, joined the 2 Michelin-starred edifice successful 2024, having held a akin presumption astatine the Mandarin Oriental hotel. She trained astatine the Shannon College of Hotel Management successful Galway.

Condon was among 10 finalists, marking the biggest last successful the scholarship’s history. Entrants from the finest hotels and restaurants crossed the UK and Ireland took portion successful a bid of interviews, earlier 10 chosen scholars were tasked with preparing a three-course luncheon astatine the Corinthia Hotel successful London to a array of VIP guests. 

At an awards ceremonial astatine Claridge’s, Condon was presented with her rubric successful beforehand of much than 200 guests from crossed the hospitality sector. 

She said: “I’m truthful blessed and wholly mislaid for words. It’s an implicit privilege to enactment successful this assemblage and bash what we do. The opportunities this assemblage tin supply is unthinkable and we’re each truthful fortunate to beryllium capable to enactment with immoderate unthinkable people, doing a occupation that we love.”

As student for 2025, Condon volition person coveted nonrecreational development, with assorted planetary enactment placements and grooming afforded to fewer others.

Her chap finalists volition besides payment from enactment acquisition astatine a fig of prestigious hotels and restaurants, including the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok and the the 3 Michelin-starred Waterside Inn successful Bray.

There are besides nutrient and vino trips to Porto and Champagne for the finalists, alongside a bespoke improvement programme astatine the Hospitality Business School successful Lausanne, Switzerland.

Chair of the Gold Service Scholarship, Alastair Storey, said: “It is highly encouraging that truthful galore young radical with specified fantastic endowment are joining and flourishing successful our industry. It’s besides fantastic to spot truthful galore concern leaders consenting to acceptable speech their clip and assets to assistance them physique their careers and put successful their future.

"We had a grounds fig of winning finalists this twelvemonth which demonstrates however standards successful our assemblage are improving twelvemonth connected year.

"It is besides hugely important to enactment that our 'Team Gold' is present made up of astir 100 people. The opportunities for improvement that this has opened up for our alumni some successful the UK and globally has been remarkable."