We have over 50 chefs working at the moment which is 10 more than last year.
Its been a good week in the Chefs In Scotland office with 9 permanent placements, plenty adverts and 15 relief out so far. Lets see what today will bring?
I have called BT to let them know that we are moving office and are booked in to get additional phone lines in to Well Street, Moffat.
Beer tasting in Lockerbie tonight.
Lots happening which is very exciting 😊
Lets see a few who are out at the moment
Jonny Lewis is at Adelphi in Aberdeen he also had Alan Anderson’s help for a couple of days
Douglas ‘Denzil’ Gillies is at The Inn at Lathones (nice you got to see your daughter too)
Ally Elder has just finished at Ramnee Hotel and James O’Brien is taking over
Graham Smith is up at the Mackays Hotel in Wick where Robert Aspden is joining him
Yousef Shengheer is at Go Glasgow
Phil Smith is helping out for a few days at The Cartland Bridge while Gordon Wright celebrates his 30th (happy birthday Gordon)
Ed Stankaitis is over in St Andrews at The Scores Hotel
Scott MacIntyre is at Nethy Bridge Hotel
Neil Hawthorne is at Stonefield Castle
John Taylor is at The Seafood Ristorante in St Andrews
Sarah Pozzi is at Greshornish in Skye
If you have any holidays or time off planned please get in touch and I can update our database
Hope you all have a great day 😊
We have over 50 chefs working at the moment which is 10 more than last year.
Its been a good week in the Chefs In Scotland office with 9 permanent placements, plenty adverts and 15 relief out so far. Lets see what today will bring?
I have called BT to let them know that we are moving office and are booked in to get additional phone lines in to Well Street, Moffat.
Beer tasting in Lockerbie tonight.
Lots happening which is very exciting 😊
Lets see a few who are out at the moment
Jonny Lewis is at Adelphi in Aberdeen he also had Alan Anderson’s help for a couple of days
Douglas ‘Denzil’ Gillies is at The Inn at Lathones (nice you got to see your daughter too)
Ally Elder has just finished at Ramnee Hotel and James O’Brien is taking over
Graham Smith is up at the Mackays Hotel in Wick where Robert Aspden is joining him
Yousef Shengheer is at Go Glasgow
Phil Smith is helping out for a few days at The Cartland Bridge while Gordon Wright celebrates his 30th (happy birthday Gordon)
Ed Stankaitis is over in St Andrews at The Scores Hotel
Scott MacIntyre is at Nethy Bridge Hotel
Neil Hawthorne is at Stonefield Castle
John Taylor is at The Seafood Ristorante in St Andrews
Sarah Pozzi is at Greshornish in Skye
If you have any holidays or time off planned please get in touch and I can update our database
Hope you all have a great day 😊
Its been a busy week in the Chefs In Scotland office with Michael looking after Head and Sous Placements, Jessica looking after Chef de Partie and Commis Chef Placements and myself working on relief.
We have 44 chefs out working over Scotland and North England.
Relief jobs have been coming in steadily this week with 16 out so far.
Some chefs we have placed
Craig Eggers and Alan MacPherson are both still at The Royal Hotel in Keith
Bobby Ainsworth is at the Albert Hotel in Orkney
Ed Stankaitis finished at The Pier House Hotel in Port Appin and is now on to The Scores Hotel in St Andrews
Jim Miller and Alex Burns are at Duisdale Hotel in Skye
Sarah Pozzi is also in Skye at Greshornish House Hotel
Paul Sellers is at The Eden Court Theatre in Inverness
Ryan Williamson is at Oban Bay hotel
Ross Mathieson is at Cabarfeidh Hotel in Stornoway
Jason Paxton is a Cawdor Tavern near Inverness
Dale Paton is at The Lovat Arms in Beauly
Cameron Brown and Gordon Wright are at The Cartland Bridge Hotel in Lanark
Michael Njoroge is at Gidi Grill in Dundee
Thanks all for your hard work 😊
Newspage 15th March 2018
We have copies kept of old newspages in the offices here in Moffat going back to 2008 which was when I moved down to Moffat from Skye in late November after a three week trip to India where I managed to get lost at Delhi airport.
Almost ten years on and we have quite swish offices in Sunnybrae, Old Well Road in Moffat, with carpets and new desks bought in early 2017. There is lots of space.
CIS is on the move again and as of Monday the 4th of June we will me making the 400 yard trip down onto Well Street in Moffat, smaller premises but what is an actual business premise as opposed to a house which has been converted.
We will be keeping the same numbers, website and email address, our Facebook page will also be in the same part of cyberspace.
I hope that there are not the same complications with switching the phone lines over as there was back in 2009 when we shut down the Portree office on Wentworth Street, overlooking the Tongadale Hotel. I hope that BT gets it right this time.
It will be time to say goodbye to the fax, goodbye to the lovely large interview room which I might just use for more traditional dinner parties and maybe a summer buffet.
I broke the news to Johanna and Jessica on Monday morning past and I am relieved that they both seem quite excited about the move and not having Saturday morning fish feeding duties. Bentley the Basset Hound and Poco the little Spanish Bodeguero will remain with me in Sunnybrae.
It is a busy old week so far in the CIS offices, five permanent placements so far, almost 30 adverts including two in Hong Kong which is always a boost! Johanna is into double figures for relief jobs out and we may make the 60 target for the second time this year. Tom is on holiday this week, coming back Monday to do some chef recruitment and work on more concise details for our brewery in Lockerbie.
As I write Jessica is getting another advert out.
The cool weather has come back today and the dogs are sitting quite content before I wake them from their slumber for the afternoon walk.
Then back to the office for some sous chef hunting.
The time in Moffat has been good for Chefs In Scotland, after our start on Skye all those years ago when many of us were still young.
Head chefs
There are quite a lot of head chef candidates in central Scotland if paying good money more than £30,000 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 until a relevant local candidate becomes available.
In rural Scotland and particular 2AA Rosette country house hotels there are some relevant candidates if paying good money (about £35,000 for 2AA Rosette head chef)
Suggest paying £30,000 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. Borders, Aberdeenshire, Dundee, East coast, and Perthshire there are 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.
There are lots more chefs available now as we approach the 2018 season. For seasonal positions especially, we do advise paying an hourly rate of pay of £13-£16 per hour with accommodation provided depending on location. This will attract candidates.
Sous chefs
If it is a live-in position for 3 or 4 star hotel suggest paying £24,000 to £27,000.
In central areas such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Stirling can try live-out and there are relevant chefs. In rural Scotland, including Dumfries and Galloway, Aberdeenshire and Perthshire it can be harder to get candidates and there are good candidates available depending on the package in place.
Suggest wages of £28,000 upwards to £30,000 plus for 2 AA and 3AA Rosette sous chefs.
A good way to attract candidates is to pay hourly rates for every hour worked by chefs. For sous chefs suggest £11 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 is good in Glasgow, Edinburgh and central belt. In rural Scotland with accommodation there are candidates if wages are decent, suggesting £9 to £11 per hour.
The availability of chefs who are looking for more rural jobs such as Fort William, Inverness-shire and West Coast is limited although there are some chefs looking for live in accommodation or chefs that may be happy to relocate.
If paying by salary £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 with live in accommodation at a small charge. We would hope you will get decent candidates with this.
Commis chefs
Lots of bodies available. Enclosed link to minimum wages.
We are suggesting thinking outside the box when it comes to chef retention. This could be ideas such as one weekend of a month; working 4 or 4 and a half days per week; overtime after 48 hours worked per week or end of season bonuses
Availability of Relief Chefs changes daily and we can advise.
We have 16 chefs out so far this week with 40 out in total.
The weather hasn’t been the best and not for the start of March.
I really appreciate the commitment from you all for trying your hardest to get to jobs when the weather was so bad. Its looking more like spring in Moffat today 😊
The availability of relief chefs is still decent and are all ready and raring to go.
Again if you are known to us please get in touch with availability or any holidays you may have planned.
Chefs out
Stuart MacColl was at The Mustard Seed Restaurant in Inverness
Steven Beckett was at Go Glasgow Urban Hotel
Mark Bellingham was at Springkell in Eaglesfield
Sam Bernard was at Cawdor Tavern in Inverness-shire
Sarah Jeffrey is at Grant Arms in Grantown on Spey
Roo Edwards is at The Dunavon in Aberdeen
David Young is at Pentland View Care Home in Thurso
Gareth Connelly is at Caladh Inn in Stornoway
Glyn Musker is at Black Bull Hotel in Lauder
Steve Nye is at La Piazza in Carluke
Taylor McFarlane is at Golf View in Nairn
Thanks to all relief chefs for your hard work
We have 16 chefs out so far this week with 40 out in total.
The weather hasn’t been the best and not for the start of March.
I really appreciate the commitment from you all for trying your hardest to get to jobs when the weather was so bad. Its looking more like spring in Moffat today 😊
The availability of relief chefs is still decent and are all ready and raring to go.
Again if you are known to us please get in touch with availability or any holidays you may have planned.
Chefs out
Stuart MacColl was at The Mustard Seed Restaurant in Inverness
Steven Beckett was at Go Glasgow Urban Hotel
Mark Bellingham was at Springkell in Eaglesfield
Sam Bernard was at Cawdor Tavern in Inverness-shire
Sarah Jeffrey is at Grant Arms in Grantown on Spey
Roo Edwards is at The Dunavon in Aberdeen
David Young is at Pentland View Care Home in Thurso
Gareth Connelly is at Caladh Inn in Stornoway
Glyn Musker is at Black Bull Hotel in Lauder
Steve Nye is at La Piazza in Carluke
Taylor McFarlane is at Golf View in Nairn
Thanks to all relief chefs for your hard work
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