25 relief chefs out working – 10 up on last year
Relief is holding up considerably considering the time of year
11 chefs booked out this week so far 😊
A little shout out to Lillian hope you feel better soon
Alan Baird and Stephen Falloon our thoughts are with you and your families
We are now into a new year and we are starting to get lots of chefs registered for relief and permanent work, relief work will really start picking up in March and will continue through to the end October early November.
We are getting lots of permanent jobs registered, lots of CV’s getting sent out and interviews arranged for permanent placements
We will be interviewing chefs here in Moffat for relief and senior chef positions if you would like to come and discuss with us please get in touch and we can let you know our availability.
Chefs we got out over the festive period
Shaun Murray at Cobbles Restaurant in Kelso, Calvin Jeff at Parklands Hotel in Perth and Buccleuch & Queensberry Hotel in Thornhill, Thomas Scott at The Crannog in Stirling, John Derrick at Go Glasgow Hotel, Tim Morris at Meadow Park in Bridge of Allan, Gordon Wright at Go Glasgow Hotel, John Derrick at Queens Hotel in Oban, Tim Morris at Cartland Bridge Hotel in Lanark, Alan Anderson at Mackays Hotel in wick, Jorn Koniczek at Esplanade Hotel in Rothesay, Glenn Richards at Kames Hotel in tighnabruich, Stacey Donnelly at Skeabost hotel in Skye, Ryan Williamson at Dram Glasgow, Rene La Barre at Calley Sample Room in Edinburgh and Shaun Murray at Gables Hotel in Gretna.
Lots of excellent feedback
Thanks all 😊
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 some time 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 £14-£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 £25,000 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 few 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 £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 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.
It’s been four months now since I started here at Chefs In Scotland as the Director of Special Projects.
My main task is the start-up and running of our new brewery, however, my time is split between managing the CIS property and the recruitment office also.
A lot has been achieved since I started. I have made numerous prototype ales and had a very successful beer tasting night, we have sourced equipment and a builder and I have made a comprehensive business plan to help with grant applications. A lot of research has also been done so that when we start trading we are in the best position possible to be successful. I am heading up to the Cuillin brewery on Skye for a week to gain some more experience. After four months we are still waiting for the council to give us our change of use for the building…
In the recruitment office I cover for holidays and now, while we wait for the planning for the brewery, I am chef recruiting most of the time as it gets busier with the new season starting. I am responsible for Commis chef and Chef de Partie permanent recruitment with a placement in Shetland last week. I have also been applying for a trademark for ‘Chefs In Scotland’.
All is quiet on the property front at the moment but I always keep an eye on the 8 properties owned by CIS.
Here’s hoping the next four months run just as smoothly!
52 relief chefs out working which is 20 + more than last year.
For new chefs looking to join 2018
We are happy to take on new CV’s but strong preference is given to existing relief chefs and our main objective in early 2018 is permanent chef placements.
You will be required to come and meet regarding doing relief work after we get your CV and chase references.
I will be on annual leave as from 5pm today I will be back to work on the 8th January 2018, Tom will be working on relief while also doing junior Chef Recruitment, Jessica will be working on Head and Sous Chef recruitment.
We will be back to normal working hours from 3rd January 9am to 5pm and Saturday 10am to 12.30pm.
We have had an overall busy December here in the Chefs In Scotland office.
I hope you all have a fantastic New Year and all the very best for 2018
Thanks so much for all your continued hard work 😊
I have counted relief chefs currently still working and there is still over 45 this is around 10 + more than last year.
We will be looking to get relief chefs registered for work from around the end Feb early March 2018 for the season ahead and will be looking to have met all new relief chefs.
I would just like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you for all your hard work which has been a very busy year for you and Chefs In Scotland.
Keep an eye out for more competitions.
You still have lots of time to nominate chefs for Chef of the Year 2018!!!!
Just a few chefs to mention in no particular order
Stuart MacColl, Jenny Quashie, Scott Bolton, Kenny Bruce, Pawel Halicki, Scott MacIntyre, George McCallum, Glyn Musker, Michael Njoroge, Dale Paton, Craig Brown, Alan Baird, Paul Wenbourne, Lillian Clarkson, Graham Smith, Mark Carswell, Pawel Cimek, Douglas ‘Denzil’ Gillies, Alan MacPherson, Phil Smith, Jason Paxton, Paul Sellers, Yousef Shengheer, John Taylor, Ben Mailer, Don Craig, Sarah Pozzie, Cameron Brown, Michael George, David Ironside, Daniel Haig, Graham Mcleish, Shaun Murray, Bruce Robertson, Ionel rizea, Steve Nye, Kevin MacAngus, Donnie Lamont …………………. The list could go on.
I hope you all have a great Christmas, Thanks you all again
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