It has been a very busy month for the brewery. My first week at the start of the month involved a meeting with a local structural engineer, Paul Burley, who cast his eye over the property in Well street, making comments on how he liked the space and explaining what was required to make the building sound and ready for production. He pointed us in the direction of John Quigley, a damp preservation specialist, and David Little a stonemason from Dumfries.
Michael met with John and he indicated that we would need some work done on rising damp and I met with David who looked at the crack in the back wall and the gable end.
I have also been in constant communication with Homer Young a quantity surveyor from McGowan Miller in Dumfries. Homer has been helping us to secure the change of use of the building from the council. It is an old painter decorators after all! I met Homer and his associate at the building and he took all the measurements to draw up plans for the brewery. This will get submitted to the council and we should know if we have our change of use by October (fingers are crossed).
I also arranged an asbestos survey and by chance the company I approached had a surveyor who lives 2 doors down from the brewery. The results came through from the survey and who knew that old, black, 1970's toilets had asbestos in them?! I have arranged a meeting with an asbestos removal firm based in Glasgow at the end of the month.
I keep being emailed and asked about shares in the brewery and local interest keeps growing. I have prepared a draft prospectus, however, as I keep telling these thirsty locals, we must wait for the change of use before we start selling.
I spent a good day on the phone with water companies. Water being pretty crucial to a brewery and the cost of it! I discovered that we could be using up to 1.8 million litres a year which might just fill Moffat pond and then some. I did discover that buying such an old building does have its advantages: its an un-metered property so our water bill will be £300 annually.
I also continually research brewery sizes, gin recipes, brewing courses, logos and much more. There seems to be an endless pit of jobs that need doing. I do know though, that as soon as the change of use application comes through it is going to get ten times more hectic!
Tom
There are 87 relief chefs out working this is up on last year by 22.
This year has been considerably busier than previous years, sometimes we are unable to take on any new relief jobs but soon get the queue down and start taking again, or we give a percentage of the availability of getting a chef in 2 weeks.
When do you think the season will tail off?
We are starting to get a few chefs booked in for interview regarding relief work, please get in touch and we will check our availability.
We have a policy in place for taking chefs on over the winter.
I am also getting availability for over the festive period, double time is payable on both Christmas Day and New Years Day.
Relief chefs we got out in July and that are still in the same place
George McCallum at The Lovat as relief Sous Chef he started on the 18th July and is due to finish this weekend.
Blair Mackay at Portree Hotel as relief chef de partie he started on the 12th July and is booked ongoing.
Leslie Kehoe at Glen Nevis Restaurant as relief chef de partie he started on the 16th July and will be finishing at the end of September.
Graeme Kennedy at Carfraemill Hotel as relief chef de partie he started on 29th July and is booked ongoing.
Phil Smith at Dryburgh Hotel as relief chef de partie this is his 2nd stint and started on 17th July and is booked ongoing.
Mark Wilkinson at Fonab Castle as relief chef de partie he started on the 17th July and is booked ongoing.
Claudio Rockard at Tongue Hotel as relief chef de partie he started on 24th July and is booked until the end of October.
Dale Paton at Glengarry Castle as relief Sous Chef he has been on and off there when he has some space and is book now until the end September.
Derrick Bartley at Loch Melfort as relief chef de partie he started on 17th July and is booked ongoing.
Mark Bellingham at Bridge Hotel as relief head chef he started back 24th July and is there ongoing.
Alessandro Canevali at Mackays Hotel as relief chef de partie he started 25th July and is there ongoing.
Kevin MacAngus is back at The Kenmore Hotel as relief chef de partie he started 2nd August and is there until end October but possibly longer.
Sara-Jayne Moffat at Cross Keys Hotel Kelso as relief chef de partie she started on 1st August and will be finishing on 24th September.
Graham Smith at Tongue Hotel as relief head chef started on 19th August and is booked until 19th September.
Paul Thomson at Dunavon as relief sous chef he started on 27th July and is there ongoing.
Bruce Robertson at Loch Melfort Hotel as relief chef de partie started on 2nd August and is booked until 24th September.
John Ferguson at The Arch Inn as relief chef de partie started on 28th July and is booked until the end September.
Scott Maciejewski is at Achnagairn Castle as relief chef de partie he started on 6th August and is there ongoing.
Patrick Johnstone at Links Hotel and Park Hotel as relief chef de partie he started on 11th August and is there ongoing.
Thanks all for your hard work 😊
We are finding that a lot more people are seeming to have a ‘staycation’ and are having their holidays in Scotland rather than going away abroad as the pound is so weak at the moment.
This means that the season is lasting longer in the more remote areas of Scotland. It was only in the news a few weeks ago that the police in Skye had issued a statement advising any visitors to Skye to only visit if they had accommodation pre-booked as they were getting phone calls and people ...walking in to the station asking for assistance in helping to find accommodation.
The Highlands and Islands have been on the TV and in the news a lot recently. From news articles highlighting the most beautiful places in Scotland, to TV programmes such as Tales from the Coast with Robson Green visiting places such as The Outer Hebrides – I feel like this has been a real boost to the tourism of rural Scotland. Of course most recently Scotland has been voted the world’s most beautiful country 2017- beating Canada, New Zealand and Norway to the number 1 spot. This will definitely attract more people to Scotland over the next year.
When I was home in Harris last month, I found that it was still very busy with tourists. I went to Temple Café in Northton and the Isle of Harris Distillery and they were buzzing with holiday makers wanting to sample beautiful home made food and of course the infamous Isle of Harris Gin!
🍸
Do you think the season is still busy now and have you favoured a ‘staycation’ this year rather than a holiday abroad?
Out and about Friday 1st September
We currently have 73 relief chef out working that we are still billing for this is 3 up on last year and 13 up in 2015.
The availability of chefs is getting better Mid September as you would expect.
We still have a queue of jobs looking to be filled and you can find these on our facebook page.
We are looking to meet relief chefs at our office for next season also so if you fancy a change or like the idea of seeing Scotland / North England then please email over your CV to recruitment@chefsinscotland.co.uk quoting RELIEF2018
Relief chef we have placed this season and are still in the same position
Billy Steele at Carfraemill Hotel in Lauder (although we placed him last year)
Philippe Alamichel is at Loch Leven Seafood Café in Onich.
Bruce Robertson is staying at Loch Melfort until the end of September
John Ferguson is at The Arch Inn staying until the end of September
Kevin MacAngus is back at Kenmore and is going to be there until the end of October.
Claudio Rickard is at The Tongue Hotel until the end of October
Leslie Kehoe and Marthius Mwina are at Glen Nevis Restaurant until the end of the season.
Colin Thomson is over in the Borders at Cross Keys Hotel in Kelso and is there for the foreseeable future
Pawel Cimek is at The Old Mill Inn in Pitlochry ongoing
Craig Thomson accepted a permanent job at Loch Fyne Hotel and Spa
Lauren McConnell is in Stornoway at The Caladh inn until the end September
Chris Roberti is at Fishers Hotel until November
Szabby Verten is in Shetland at The Scalloway Hotel definitely until the end of the season
Carlos Ragone is at the Four Seasons Hotel until the end of the season
Dixon Chireri is at The Old manor Hotel ongoing
Stephen MacNiven is at Tulchan Sporting Lodge ongoing
Sorry if I have missed anyone.
Thanks for committing to each establishment and seeing them through a busy time 😊
We have 85 relief chefs out working at the moment.
Relief is still very busy with 22 jobs out so far.
If you have any availability please get in touch via email jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk or call 01683 222830.
Out at the moment
Ladies first
Lillian Clarkson is over in Selkirk at the Woll Golf Club as Sous Chef
Sarah Pozzi is at The Arisaig Hotel in Lochaber as Chef de Partie
Jenny Quashie is at Number 4 Restaurant in the Cotswolds as Sous Chef
Keren Tweedie is at Ramnee Hotel in Forres as Chef de Partie
Sara-Jayne Moffat is in Kelso at The Cross Keys Hotel as Chef de Partie
Kirsty Hamilton has just started at The Mustard Seed Restaurant in Inverness as Chef de Partie
Stacey Donnelly is at The Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown on Spey as Chef de Partie
And some of the Gentlemen
Ryan Marshall is at Cawdor Tavern in Cawdor as Sous Chef
David Ironside is at Clubhouse Hotel in Nairn as Chef de Partie
Johan Sikkema is at Kitchen Brasserie in Inverness as Head Chef
Cameron Brown is at Ben Alder Lodges in Dalwhinnie as Head Chef
Alfie Cranwell is at Scripture Union Scotland in Kinross as Sous Chef
Pawel Halicki is at Cairngorm Hotel in Aviemore as Sous Chef
Ione Rizea is at The Highlander Inn in Craigellachie as Sous Chef
Some excellent feed back forms coming back for chef placements
Keep up the good work all
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