Out and About 5th December
We have 28 relief chefs out working that we are charging for.
Relief is quieter and the work that is coming in will be given as priority the chefs who have worked all season and who are known to us.
You can still register though please email CV’s to jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk
Ian has permanent positions available if you would like to find out more please email ian@chefsinscotland.co.uk
We would love to hear where your best placement(s) have been and if you would like to share any photos
Here are some of the chefs we currently have out
Nastasia Costinea has just finished at The Angus Hotel, she will he back home for the winter and return in March – Thanks for all the great stints this year 😊
Stuart Jackson and Colin Thomson are both at Stonefield Castle Hotel
Thomas Barney has just finished at The Isles Inn Portree
Thomas Mclean is still working away at The Skeabost Hotel
Scott Maciejewski is back at Ness Walk
Didier Nemiesien is back on the circuit and is at the Melrose Hospital
Stuart Agnew has taken over from John Derrick at Armstrong’s Restaurant
Thanks once again for all your hard work and continued support :)
Out and About 28th November
We have 18 relief chefs out working from the Moffat Office that we are charging for.
Relief is quieter and the work that is coming in will be given as priority the chefs who have worked all season and who are known to us.
You can still register though please email CV’s to jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk
Ian has permanent positions available if you would like to find out more please email ian@chefsinscotland.co.uk
We would love to hear where your best placement(s) have been and if you would like to share any photos
Here are some of the chefs we currently have out
Michael George and Thomas Scott are both extended at Loch Fyne Oyster Bar
Andrew Westwood and Mark Carswell are at Tor Na Coille Hotel
James Pratt is at The Braided Fig
Stuart Maccoll is at Skitby House
Jamie Macdiarmid is at Kniopch House
John Ferguson is at Castle Craig Hospital
Michael Young is at Old Manse of Blair
George Alexandru is at The Ythanview Hotel
Thanks once again for all your hard work and continued support :)
Out and About 21st November
We have 34 relief chefs out working that we are charging for.
Relief is quieter and the work that is coming in will be given as priority the chefs who have worked all season and who are known to us.
You can still register though please email CV’s to jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk
Ian has some excellent permanent positions available if you would like to find out more please email ian@chefsinscotland.co.uk
We would love to hear where your best placement(s) have been and if you would like to share any photos
Here are some of the chefs we currently have out
Stuart Jackson is finishing today Mackays Hotel in Wick.
John Derrick and Patrick Johnstone are both at Armstrongs Restaurant, Angus
Andrew Engledow is at Monachyle Mhor, Stirlingshire
Jamie Macdiarmid is finishing on Tuesday at Boat Inn Aboyne
Stephen Grant finished at Knipoch Hotel on Monday
James Oshea is finishing up this weekend at The Old Manor Hotel, Fife
Mark Shaw is at Pitbauchlie Hotel, Fife
Nastasia Costinea and Bobby Ainsworth are both at The Angus Hotel, Perthshire
Thanks once again for all your hard work and continued support :)
Out and About
5th November 2025
There is often a shared history going back to the very beginning of CIS, when we meet up for a few pints, and a blether to put the world to right.
As we did last night up the top of Union Street at The Archibald Simpson, a former bank, by The Castlegate in Aberdeen, although the Castlehill Barracks were knocked down in 1965, the year of my birth and replaced with two blocks of high-rise flats with stunning views over to the harbour and beyond.
Robert and I reminisced about “Big Paul” or “Number one” as we affectionately knew him when he completed placements on relief for perhaps 15 years in total including the first ever relief job that I knocked out to Tongue Hotel, which was part of the group with Bridge of Orchy (BOO) and the Inverbeg Hotel, and as seems like it has for perpetuity, they were missing a Sous Chef and Paul headed up for a few weeks, before his second stint at Lochmaddy Hotel.
CIS didn’t charge for that first ever relief job, in fact we were called Skye Recruitment in that first year when the business took off in 2000, before changing to Chefs In Scotland in 2001 when I was still doing a couple of nights a week in the Isles in Portree on Skye.
Other chefs we chatted about were Sebastien Schoeder who worked with Robert at Onich Hotel (01855 815214) just to the south of Fort William, when Robert would call up the office on Skye to request Big Paul on relief for a few weeks.
Robert took on the Head Chef position at Thainstone House some time back, perhaps in the late 2000’s and moved over to Aberdeenshire where he has remained working since.
Adam has met up the last two times I have been up including yesterday and although, we have only met twice now in person, with the shared history of hotels and people, there is a strong connection.
We talked and drank a couple of pints, and a couple more for the road, all four of us chatting and listening and being part of a strong bond, created and forged in the sometimes wonderful and sometimes not world of Scottish Hospitality.
Ideas, like recipes, are bandied about, such as the “Monday Club” where like-minded hospitality people, or relations, or friends or associates can meet or be connected in someway to provide and mental support that this community of shared experiences can create.
Waking up just off the Lang Stracht this morning, a little later than usual, but not in the gutter, I got thinking about Phil Smith’s email address which contained the words “wide awake”.
There will be other thoughts and ideas and maybe nothing will come of it, bit I quite like the idea and the sound and ring of the words:
“The Wide- Awake Club”
Not a business and not my initial idea and be interesting to see what anyone else thinks.
No need to repost the photo of the slightly tipsy friends last night again, so will try and find another of Aberdeen, the city of my birth.
https://www.acas.org.uk/contact
ACAS is a free to use government sponsored facility to help disputes between employees and employers regarding wages.
it is a friendly and helpful service and available to all.
You can call on 0300 123 1150 and they are open usual office hours from Monday at 9am.
It is also possible to have someone deal with ACAS on your behalf, with permission.
This facility is not relevant for self-employed where the small claims court facility at Sheriff Courts in Scotland is the main option if all else fails, although, personally I have found the “shirker of the week” route, albeit perhaps actionable, can get results.
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