Builders have begun work on the £1.1m project to develop the Hospitality Guild's flagship training and development hub Hospitality House in north London.

It will include a training and demonstration kitchen, training bar, café, meeting rooms, video conferencing, events space, and offices for the Guild and other partner organisations.

The building was donated rent free by fast food giant McDonald's as one of the principal benefactors of the development.

Sponsorship and equipment has also been provided by industry suppliers and employers such as Gram Commercial, Electrolux, Heineken, Compass Group UK, Hilton and People 1st.

The building is being carried out by Claremont Group Interiors and is expected to be complete by summer.

Guild executive director Suzy Jackson said: "That we've managed to get from a dream of having a state of the art training facility to actually making it a reality in less than a year is mind blowing."

The Guild was established in 2012 and is the brainchild of sector skills council People 1st. It unites 23 hospitality associations, 11 of the largest employers and represents 80,000 employer and individual members.