Newspage 24th January 2018
I doubt that I am alone in thinking where have the last 20 years gone!
It is good that Johanna, Jessica and Tom in the office are still young and can keep in touch with the rapidly changing world whilst I cling to our website and Facebook page, never having managed to quite get to grips with Twitter, let alone Instagram and snapchat (spelling!)
I do not know how this year is going to pan out in the CIS offices here in Moffat.
There is much more competition than there was back at the turn of the millennium when I was a fledgling chef recruiter and there were large agencies such as Stafffinders, Reed and Berkeley Scott.
They also traditionally charged percentages for placements, anything from 8.75% up to 20%.
Dee Cooper gave out phone numbers and charged £30 a pop.
Brian Meechan sent out chefs from Clarke Staff Agency and it was a take it or leave it situation.
We have been fortunate to have kept going so long in what is becoming a more and more competitive market. I am quite confident that our relief database of chefs and our permanent database have more information on them than most and perhaps all other agencies.
We actually had our most ever adverts on our website in 2017, over 1000. So far this year they are holding up also.
Since 2013 when we committed to improvements in technology and tried to commit to more in-house training, both turnover and net profit have increased which allows us to diversity into property and this year into Lowland Brewery, down in Lockerbie.
Let’s see how this year pans out.
I am not hands on in the CIS office anymore and have not been for over a year.
One of the things that has saddened me has been the premature death of so many chefs over the years. Many who we met or became friends with such as fellow Aberdonian Stuart Taylor, Tam Dennet who was just in his early sixties and last year it was sad to hear about the early passing away of Paul Burns who had been one of Scotland’s best known chefs for many years.
There is definitely a correlation between working as a chef and poor life expectancy.
On relief, there are quite a few decent, reliable and hard working chefs who now find themselves in their sixties and they continue to pitch up and graft away as their knees begin to give way. I do not know how that story ends.
At the other extreme, there are many young chefs coming into the industry and gaining great experience in some of Scotland’s many quality hotels.
Some of the hotels and restaurants retention levels leave a bit to be desired, although many are now forward thinking and imaginative in their approach to employee retention.
We will have a busy year here at Chefs In Scotland. I hope that it doesn’t pass too quickly.
Many thanks for your continued support and patience.
NB if anyone wants to come down to chat about their career, or their future, I am more than happy to meet here in Moffat for a blether, email Michael@chefsinscotland.co.uk
No guarantees you will get a CIS mug, but you never know.
RSS