PEOPLE of a certain age have a habit of observing that policemen, doctors, pilots and other professionals are looking younger.

At the Horizons Hotel and Restaurant at Accrington's Globe Centre, the staff really are much younger than you would expect.

The business, which incorporates a 10-bedroom hotel, silver-service restaurant, three conference rooms and Traders Brasserie, is staffed entirely by catering students from Accrington and Rossendale College.

This means the hotel general manager could be as young as 16. It also means that students at the award winning college are given comprehensive, on-the-job training in all elements of the catering business rather than just text book theory.

And because the business is run to make a profit, the college also benefits as the money is ploughed back into the educational facilities.

Horizons was set up in 1996 with initial funding of £100,000 from a successful bid for Single Regeneration Budget assistance. An additional £360,000 came from private sponsorship, the Further Education Funding Council and the college itself.

The college facility is now self-financing and, last year, had a turnover in excess of £350,000.

And the hotel, which operates on a Travelodge basis, is running at 40 per cent occupancy which is what is needed to break even.

At the head of the operation is the college's head of catering and Horizons manager Ian Ross. He sees the experience gained by pupils in this pioneering set up as invaluable.

He said: "This set-up gives students a sense of realism. They are given more on-the-job training and less theoretical work than previously.

"And because college leavers have worked with actual rather than theoretical problems, they are more valuable in the workplace."

Each year, around 100 students face the day-to-day challenges of working in the busy catering establishment.

The hotel offers them experience in business trends such as conferences and banqueting as well as the NVQ housekeeping unit, which 90 per cent of colleges have had to drop.

Traders includes a bakery and a butchers shop which give students a taste of fast-service, continental-style bistros.

Upstairs, the 80-seat Horizons restaurant gives silver service skills.

For potential catering students, there is a selection of modules available. The college currently offers a choice of courses in wines and spirits, licensing, catering and hospitality and will introduce a two-year Foundation Degree in Hospitality Management from March 2004.

But students expecting the traditional long summer college holidays are in for a shock as term-time has become a thing of the past because students have to book their holiday weeks.

Students at the pioneering facility operate on seven-week placements which rotate the different departments according to their courses.

They work eight-hour shifts, except for Monday and Tuesday afternoons when they attend theory workshops between 2pm and 3.30pm. There is also the also offer of paid work on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Lecturers also have to keep on top of new developments in the catering industry and are sent out for six weeks each year.

On the same principal former students are asked to return and assist with training of current students.

This idea has recently been adapted for a series of 'celebration dinners' led by top chefs from a selection of prestigious restaurants.

Included in the line-up is former student Nigel Haworth from Northcote Manor at Langho which has a Michelin star, Chris Aston from Heathcotes Restaurant and John Heffernan of the Rick Stein Fish Restaurant.

This successful run will conclude with a Murder Mystery Story on October 16 with James Gingell of Manchester's Restaurant Bar and Grill.

As a result of the events, a number of students have been offered additional experience in the form of placements with the visiting restaurateurs during their holidays.

But the vast majority of tutoring is carried out at Horizons where everything is under one roof, a design which has proved beneficial to many others.

Mr Ross said: "Because the hotel rooms and conference suites are so close together, it is great for people attending early conferences.

"They have no worries about becoming stuck in traffic or any other mishaps that can happen. All they have to do is wake up, have their breakfast and they are already in the same building.

"Similarly, the arrangement is popular with functions such as birthdays and weddings as guests can hire Horizons for dancing, a conference room for the food and a bedroom for the end of a long night."