Paul Askew, Chef Patron of The Art School Restaurant, is one of the North West's most popular Chefs. During his time at Wirral Met, Paul studied a Hospitality and Catering Diploma that encompassed management, intuitional operations and culinary specialisms. After his time at the College, Paul worked in many hotels and restaurants, starting on a higher apprenticeship programme with De Verve Hotels. He then went on to develop his skills working in independent restaurants in New York, before returning to the UK and taking on his first Head Chef position at a country house in Cheshire. Paul then went on to open Liverpool's critically acclaimed The Art School Restaurant in 2014 which has won many awards and accolades, including being the first restaurant in Liverpool to make the Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants in 2017. Paul is also the Chair in the North of England for the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts. When talking about his time at the College, Paul says “I think Wirral Met College helped me enormously when I decided what I wanted to do… I think the course that I went on gave me a fantastic foundation and background to what this mad industry is." [the course] "gave me the technical side, the underpinning knowledge of what you need to learn to be a successful chef or a successful maître d' of the future. If you’ve got a passion in your heart and you’ve got a real desire to do this properly then the best thing can do is get on a foundation course.”

Louise Bailey joined Wirral Met in 2014 to complete GCSE English, GCSE Science and maths to prepare her to study higher education. In 2015, Louise completed the Pre-Access to Health and Social Care course, followed by the Access to Higher Education Nursing and Allied Health Professions course in 2016. Louise said: “As a mature student it was scary coming back to education but all the different tutors I met along my journey really supported me with every next step. I spent just over 3 years with Wirral Met and this time really prepared me for higher education. “I gained skills in essay writing and referencing that are just invaluable when starting at university and really give you the advantage for the first assignments. I am really glad I made the decision to study at Wirral Met to start my journey, and the confidence and friends I made for life.” Louise is due to start her fourth and final year at Edge Hill University this September, where she is undertaking a Masters in Child Nursing and Social Work. Louise added: “I am hoping to gain employment in a new role being created and I would be an Integrated Practitioner. The nature of Nursing and Social Work means it is lifelong learning so I wouldn’t say no to doing a PHD or some research in the future.”

Wirral Met alumnus Kevin Johnson now owns a successful local business after completing the Foundation Degree in Computer Science and CISCO Network courses at Wirral Met College. After graduating, Kevin went on to complete a degree in Digital Business and Social Media at John Moores University and says his passion is “creating content for websites and social media”. Building his business around this passion, Virtual Tours Wirral offers its customers the ability to showcase their premises online through 360 tours – promising to build brand confidence and increase sales. When talking about his time at the College, Kevin says “Wirral Met supported me and gave me the skills to achieve my dreams of becoming a web developer”. Kevin returned to College earlier this year to speak to groups of Computing and IT students during Industry week, providing them with a valuable insight into the challenges of setting up your own business, website development and social media marketing.