Wednesday 21st December 2016
It is calm and there is a light blue sky in Moffat today and the newly painted offices in the house at Sunnybrae in Moffat. Coldplay are singing a Christmas melody on the radio whilst Bentley the Basset Hound sits looking at his new pal, “El Poco” a Bodeguero from Nerja on the Costa Del Sol.
He found me when he was running along the road at night one Tuesday a few weeks back.
It is a little quiet in the Chefs In Scotland office today. Johanna has got two relief jobs out, sent a couple of applicants over for jobs applied for, and arranged a few interviews and we have one new advert on the website for 2017, up in Tongue.
I have posted a few Christmas cards and looking over the business to check what has happened in the last couple of months when I have been away, driving down south to Nerja and then back up again after a suitable period of rest in between in the mainly pleasant weather overlooking the Mediterranean sea.
I found some interesting places on my drive down such as Pons in the south of France where we kipped in the van in the carpark next to the church. There was a lovely wee brasserie where I was welcomed in by the smoking patron and his friends and family and enjoyed 3 small glasses of wine for less than two euros. A bit off the beaten track seemed to be friendlier.
On the route back up I spent my first night, having made it through the zig sag of motorways in Madrid without getting lost, in Aranda de Duero a very friendly town. I parked the van on the main street as I was gasping for the toilet and Aranda Hotel was the first one I found. “El Perro possible?” “si” A spacious room and a fantastic array of meats and cheeses and breads at breakfast to send us on our way north. The two dogs behaved and sat next to each other and slept for most of the journey stopping every 150 miles or so for a break for them and me.
I failed to find La Rochelle in the south of France on the way back up. Sat Nav was not for giving me any clues and we stayed in a motorway hotel which was fine before booking Le Meurice in Calais where I had never stayed. What I saw of the town was good, the lovely parks and churches.
2016 has been a good year for Chefs In Scotland again, our financial year end is to 30th November and it looks like our turnover is up about 15%.
We have set a target to increase turnover a further 15% in 2017 and to this end we are targeting specific regions in the north of England where we get quite a bit of business. Cumbria, Northumberland, the Lake District and North Yorkshire. We have turned one of the downstairs rooms into an office and Alannah is coming back to work in January alongside Jessica and Johanna and myself.
I hope that everyone has an enjoyable, relaxing Christmas and is in good health for 2017.
Many thanks for your continued support and patience.
Michael, Johanna, Jessica, Bentley and El Poco in Moffat.
�������9�X���It is nearly the end of the year and Michael and Bentley are on their way back from Spain. The office has certainly been quiet without them but at least our lunch has been safe from being eaten by Bentley. The painting is just having the finishing touches and the joiner has been in today to affix the new notice boards to the wall. Johanna and I are busy putting up the pictures that were taken down and getting everything in to its rightful place.
The new office will be ready come the New Year and the new phone line, computer and notice boards are already in place.
I have been busy getting chefs registered for the new jobs which will come in next year and Johanna has been getting a few relief chefs out although mainly area specific.
When the refurbishments are completed and the carpets put down in January we will be inviting chefs to meet us at our offices in Moffat. If you are looking to do relief work over the 2017 season or would like to come and discuss permanent positions please call the office and we can arrange to meet either myself, Johanna or Michael either 11am or 2pm on Tuesday, Thursday or Fridays.
19th December - 9am to 5pm
20th December - 9am to 5pm
21st December - 9am to 5pm
22nd December - 9am to 5pm
23rd December - 9am to 4pm
Christmas Eve - Closed
Christmas Day - Closed
Boxing Day - Closed
27th December - 9am to 5pm
28th December - 9am to 5pm
29th December - 9am to 5pm
30th December - 9am to 4pm
New Year’s Eve - Closed
New Year’s Day - Closed
2nd January - Closed
3rd January - 9am to 5pm
There are head chef candidates in central Scotland if paying good money in excess of £28,000 and upwards for head chef jobs.
In rural Scotland including Inverness and all the highlands and islands, there are a few head chefs and we advise offering accommodation with permanent head chef jobs to attract candidates. Otherwise you may have to wait some time until a relevant local candidate becomes available.
In rural Scotland and particular 2AA Rosette country house hotels relevant candidates are scarce. Skye, Shetland Islands and rural Argyll, it is proving hard to get relevant candidates despite the payment of good money (about £35,000 for 2AA Rosette head chef)
Suggest paying £28,000 upwards to £40,000 according to requirements and demands of the job. Ideally we advise for a five day week and over-time paid on a pro rata basis for extra days worked and for hours in excess of 48 on a pro rata basis.
Aberdeenshire, Dundee and East coast, and Perthshire there are quite a few Head Chefs registered.
The more central, the more candidates you will expect to get and the more rural, the harder it can get.
With all the social media currently available, many chefs are becoming very savvy about where they wish to work and establishments with records of poor chef retention may find it harder to attract good quality permanent candidates. Scotland is quite a small country.
Sous chefs
If it is a live in position for 4 star hotel suggest paying £24,000 to £30,000.
In central areas such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Stirling can try live-out and there are a few relevant chefs. In rural Scotland, it can be harder to get candidates but there are some candidates available if there is a good package in place however most chefs are in place now until the new year.
2AA Rosettes and are quite scarce but few available. Suggest wages of £26,000 - £28,000 upwards to £30,000 for 3AA Rosette sous chef.
A good way to attract candidates is to pay hourly rates for every hour worked by chefs. For sous chefs suggest £12 to £14 per hour this will help to attract and retain good candidates.
If paying salaried, we suggest five day week with overtime pro rata over 48 hours.
Chef de parties
Availability currently ok in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perthshire and central belt. Quality can be mixed. In rural Scotland with accommodation there are a few candidates if wages are decent, suggesting £10 to £12 per hour.
There are some chefs looking for live in accommodation and may be happy to relocate and again are of varying quality.
If paying by salary suggest £19,000 for a 45 hour week works out £8.11 an hour which is on the low side. Suggest paying up to £22,000 or hourly rate £9.50 - £12 per hour with live in accommodation at a small charge. We would hope you will get decent candidates with this.
Commis chefs
Few bodies available. Enclosed link to minimum wages.
www.minimum-wage.co.uk/
Pastry a few available happy to have a look
For perm we can look if pay “fee of interest” or advertise
Availability of Relief Chefs change daily and we can advise.
This time last year we were facing the aftermath of Storm Desmond where a lot of shops, houses and roads had been damaged. This week the weather is still looking grim with only a few weeks to go before Christmas time.
I know there has been some really bad flooding in other parts of the world and the Costa del Sol, where I still have family is one of them, they live on higher ground but some of the areas have been badly affected. Little bit drier further up the coast where Michael is though!
At Chefs In Scotland we are just finishing off the refurbishments for this year and hope to have it all completed next week. In January we are having new carpets fitted and new office furniture will be making an appearance all in time for the opening of our downstairs office for the return of Alannah Morrison who will be working on permanent junior chef recruitment.
There are lots of jobs coming in for next year and most likely any chefs that we place now will be for jobs starting in January and February so that the chefs can work out the remainder of the festive season in their current jobs.
I have been working this week on getting lots of chefs registered and all of their details up to date so that we are all ready to go for searches for jobs that are registered in January so if you are looking for a new challenge for the new year please send in your CV to recruitment@chefsinscotland.co.uk and we will respond to all emails.
As a former chef I know it can be difficult to make time to spend with friends and family at this time of year but wishing you all a Merry Christmas from Moffat.
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