Its 4 weeks till Christmas on Monday and relief has held up this week for bookings over the festive period. Johanna returns on Monday after 2 weeks off and Tom in on holiday next week for a break also. We are starting to get positions in for as far ahead as March 2018 so please do send your CV in if you are looking for work in the new year. jessica@chefsinscotland.co.uk
A few chefs booked in from 7th November are:
Keren Tweedie who is new to us this year is working over at The Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness
Ben Mailer is heading over to Stornoway back to The Caberfeidh Hotel.
Ryan Marshall is up in Orkney at The Albert Hotel.
Steve Moffat is at Carfraemill close to home in Lauder.
Michael George is heading to the Ben Nevis hotel next week.
Ryan Williamson is working in Bute at The Victoria and Esplanade Hotels for two weeks.
Graham Smith is finishing up at The Cartland Bridge Hotel with Paul Sellers.
Dale Paton is working the weekend at Cray House.
Mike Pallister is working at Lythe Care Home and Peter Norrie is taking over next week.
Mark Carswell is working at The Hebridean Princess which is moored in Greenock.
Lauren Mcconnell is over at The Bungo in Pollockshields.
Ionel Rizea is also heading over to the Scores in St Andrews.
As the newbie on the CIS team I have settled in very quickly to the recruitment side of things. Although my main task here at CIS is to get Galldachd na h-Alba Brewery up and running I come to the upstairs office and do some chef recruitment when one of the girls are on holiday.
I had never done any recruitment before and it was all totally new to me. The girls couldn’t have been more helpful introducing me to all the systems, the database and how to deal with all the enquiries we get. There is constantly more to learn but it makes the job very interesting as no two days are the same. Within a couple weeks in the upstairs office, I managed to get my first permanent chef placement; it was a good feeling! Chef In Scotland offers everyone a very generous bonus scheme which makes every placement that bit sweeter. But the main satisfaction comes from knowing that you have found someone a job that is suitable for them and helped them with their career.
I came back to Moffat after university and college with the thought that I would move away again to find the right career path for me. Little did I know that the best opportunity for me was right on my doorstep, a 5 minute walk from my house! It is funny how things work out.
With the brewery set to open early 2018 I will not be spending as much time in the recruitment office. This has also given the opportunity for someone else to join the team and to find the enjoyment out of the job that I have so far.
If you are interested in being part of the close knit team we have here in Moffat send your CV with cover letter to Jessica@chefsinscotland.co.uk.
Tom
There are currently 46 chefs out on jobs through us which is nearly doubled since last year.
I have been working on relief this week as Johanna is having a well-deserved two weeks off. Myself and Tom have been working towards beating last years statistics and we are not far off! I have actually quite enjoyed a little bit of a change as although we all pitch in to help get the relief jobs filled I think this is the first time I’ve had a... full run at it. The pace of relief is very different to permanent recruitment and it is much more reactive. It is a little bit quieter on relief which we do expect for this time of year.
A few relief chefs we have out working with us at the moment are:
Chris Daily is back working at The East Haugh House Hotel where he spent time working in the summer.
Sarah Jeffrey is over in Skye at The Duisdale Hotel.
Michael Pallister has finished working at The Blackbull Hotel in Lauder and is heading over to Knockomie Hotel in Forres for a week.
Alex Burns has been asked to stay on a bit longer at The Newton Hotel in Nairn.
Michael George has been posting some lovely photos of the food during his time at The Cullen Bay Hotel.
Claudio Rickard who is new to us this year is on his second job with us at The Old Manor Hotel after completing most of the season in Tongue where the feedback was excellent.
Jason Paxton is over in Memus at The Drovers Inn until the end of the year.
Shaun Murray is working for a few days in Dumfriesshire at The Gables.
Daniel Haig is completing a two-week stint at The Victoria Hotel in Bute.
Lillian Clarkson is working at The Queens Hotel in Oban with John Derrick.
Richard Gunn is working at The Links Hotel in Montrose until the new year.
Blair Mackay has just finished working back at The Eden Court.
Thank you all for your hard work and continued support.
We have 47 relief chefs out working this is 16 more chefs out than last year which is brilliant.
We met Mike Scotford and his partner Sarah yesterday it was lovely to put a face to a name.
I will be on annual leave for 2 weeks from end of play today, I am going to Benidorm for 1 week which I am really looking forward to. They start their Fiesta Festival tomorrow and this is right up my street with floats and fancy dress.
Jessica will be doing relief chef recruitment while I am away.
Tom will be up in the office getting CV’s out for junior chef positions and Jessica will carry on looking for Sous and Head Chefs.
Booked from mid to end October -
Lesley Richards at Carfraemill, Bruce Robertson at Bridge End Hotel, Kai Stutzkeits at Links hotel, Ionel Rizea at Carfraemill, Michael George at Royal an Lochan, Stuart Macoll at Cross Keys Hotel, Graham Smith at Ardvasar Hotel, Dom Kelecuis at Mustard Seed Restaurant, Daniel Rothwell at Links Hotel, Chris Daily at Ballachulish Hotel, Steve Nye at Old Mill in Pitlochry, James O’Brien at Ardanaseig Hotel, John McGregor at Scores Hotel, Lesley Richards at Belted Burger Edinburgh, Ben Robertson at Old Mill Inn Pitlochry, Mark Wilkinson at Alyth Hotel, Daniel Haig at Tulliallan Golf Club, Scott MacIntyre at Ceilidh Place, George McCallum at Trump Turnberry, Michael Njoroge at Bridge Hotel, Jason Paxton at Kinmount Hotel, Fraser Dingwall at Kingsmills Hotel, David Findlay at Dram Glasgow, Johan Sikkema at Carrbridge Kitchen, Paul Wenbourne at Grant Arms Hotel, Donnie Lamont at Rocpool Reserve, Marta Konieczka at The Bungo, Blair Mackay at Ackergill Tower, Jack Baldwin at Mackays Hotel, Oliver Mould at Powfoot Hotel, David Mao at Inn at Lathones, Jim Miller at Taste of Moray, Sam Titi at La boca Glasgow and David Ironside at Lythe Care Home.
Thanks for all your hard work everyone 😊
I can't believe it's November already. Time is flying by now. As we get closer to the New Year everything is starting to fall into place. We have had the asbestos removed from the building and have had a whole host of quotes for completing the building work.
Equipment has been sourced and is to be fitted in January. The 650 Litre system should produce two brews a week. One of the Dryfe Ale and one of the Dryfe Blonde. This will be enough to fill 32 firkin casks or 64 'pin' casks a week. Alternatively if we bottle the beer we will have capacity to produce almost 4000 bottles a week!
The business is now VAT registered and we will register for beer duty when we get the plant in Lockerbie set up. Beer duty is actually the biggest cost when producing beer! Thankfully as a small brewery there is duty relief.
I have been sourcing labels and bottles, trying to create the perfect look for the beer.
The logo is still in development but it should be decided on soon.
Test batches have been well under way. I have now made 5 batches in the garage at Sunnybrae, two Blonde beers, two ales and an IPA. Brewing beer is a mix between a chemistry experiment and brewing a very large complicated cup of tea! Three of the brews are still fermenting away in the spare bedroom here ready for bottling next week.
The brewing is all preparation for our event next month (December 15th) in Sunnybrae where we will reveal the investor share prospectus along with a music and tapas night. Again if anyone is interested in shares or wanting to be the first to get their hands on some of our beer, email me tom@chefsinscotland.co.uk.
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