TV chef Gordon Ramsay and retail guru Mary Portas will take over a hotel and train a group of unemployed youngsters to run it in a new Channel 4 series with the working title Hotel Britannia.

Ramsay and Portas will be joined by other celebrity mentors who will help train and support the hotel's young workers as they take part in daily events designed to test their emerging skills whilst also raising money for charity. 

Members of the public will be able to book stays in the hotel or visit the attached spa and restaurant.

Jay Hunt, Channel 4's chief creative officer, said: “If Channel 4 were to run a hotel, it would probably be the best hotel in the world and that's exactly what Hotel Britannia will aim to be as our biggest talent put themselves on the line to help kick-start careers for young people in the service industry.”

Hotel Britannia is one of two new Channel 4 shows on the subject of youth unemployment, which Hunt called "one of the biggest issues affecting our audience”.

A second series, The Intern, is billed as the “interview from hell” (as was BBC1's The Apprentice in its early years) and promises to put young participants through intensive week-long placements with Briitish employers that will test their suitability for their chosen professions.

Hunt said the show would “test the mettle of the UK's job seekers with a nightmare week of work experience… with a real internship at some of the nation's biggest companies at stake."

She added: "These shows are about doing what Channel 4 does best - bringing complex issues alive with real creative flair."