AN assistant catering manager from Worcestershire has been named an Acorn Award winner – one of only a few of the brightest prospects in the hospitality industry under the age of 30 to receive the accolade this year.

Francesca (Frankie) Brennan, aged 22, who lives at Stockwood, near Inkberrow, works for the independent catering company, Wilson Vale, as an assistant catering manager at Farncombe, near Broadway, home of the Cotswold Conference Centre and Farncombe courses in Worcestershire. Previous recipients of an Acorn Award include celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Marco Pierre White. She said: “I am over the moon with being named one of this year’s Acorn award winners. The hospitality industry is definitely my passion.”