Newspage 26th April 2016
The year moves on and it seems like ten minutes since I drove back from the Costa del Sol accompanied by Bentley the Basset hound just before Christmas last year. The weather in south of Scotland was cold then and it still remains cold now with little hints of snow speckling the April air.
Almost four months of the year have passed and we have had a busy and productive time at our offices in Moffat.
We have met and interviewed many chefs who have had a cup of tea and coffee and a chat and shown our offices. Most leave with a CIS pen and business cards for the three of us and hopefully a good idea of the work that we do here.
Relief Work
Relief work has hit a little bit of a lull this week after a very busy 27 relief jobs out last week and a smattering of 3 jobs out on Saturday past. We are open on Saturdays 9am to 1pm. We do not have an out of hours service but mainly we are open Monday to Friday 9am to 6.30pm. Substantially more than the Bank of Scotland or The Royal Bank of Scotland are open and we do open on Bank holidays also, either a half day or a full day.
In my opinion, Bank Holidays should be a thing of the past, obsolete as they are a hindrance to us who work in the many small businesses that abound in Scotland. The 8 public holidays have been incorporated by the government into statutory holiday requirements so what purpose being shut on Monday the 2nd of May other than do give those who work for public bodies and those who work for banks another day off. I would be very interested to know if the banks in India shut on random days throughout the year, or China? Perhaps they do.
We spend quite a bit of time tidying up the relief files and shredding the details of those who are no longer with us. This left a list of 94 files for those who are currently out working with us. We will be up to 100 shortly. 239 relief jobs out for the year at an average of 16 per week which has risen greatly from January. Our success rate for relief jobs that start is over 90% and reflects well on the excellent chefs out working such as Stuart MacColl who is pretty much the standard that we all aspire to. Johanna the relief chef manageress is adding Alan Baird and Alan Jack to that list of grade 1 relief chefs.
Adverts
310 adverts so far this year, again at an average of 16 with a high of 30 adverts in one week. Many chefs are using our CIS for chefs feature whereby you can register and get jobs sent directly to you. There is no other fee when a chef takes a job via the advert. We are very up front about the fees that we charge and they can be found on the front page of our website.
Perm placements
We have 45 permanent placements standing as of today. Permanent placements are harder to make and have a lower success rate than relief jobs.
Probably the pinnacle of our working year has been placing six chefs at Gleneagles Hotel on permanent basis. They are charged the same as any other hotelier. £200 for commis chef and £400 for chef de partie with an appropriate fee of interest of £50 and £75 respectively. Plus VAT.
Moffat
We had a good attempt at taking over the Mercury Hotel in Moffat which I worked in as a kitchen porter / general assistant in 1988 as a fresh faced graduate with a good head of hair. We would have enjoyed trying to help to stop the decline of the town centre which now has many empty buildings boarded up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, for now. Lack of interest from Dumfries & Galloway Council and sadly the people of Moffat meant, I knocked that idea on the head.
I moved out of our main office Sunnybrae last October and now stay in a flat in the village, allowing the business to grow if it can. There is plenty of space and we now have longer opening hours and Allanah from Harris who works on our time off and does the accounts on a Sunday.
Hopefully, we can continue to do well for some time to come and with Johanna Watson into her seventh year and Jessica Huntley finishing her first full year here, we have a very solid and experienced base with which to work from.
We would love to see some more hoteliers and restaurateurs come to meet to discuss chef recruitment and chef retention, which we surely know a little bit about after almost 18 years trying to place chefs.
Many thanks for your continued support and patience
Michael in Moffat
hNcylvqp6;�Availability of Head Chefs 8th March 2016
Into the 2nd week in March and I am finding a big split in the head chef recruitment.
Centrally, Glasgow, Perthshire and Stirling there is good availability of chefs.
Also, availability in the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway is decent to good.
Pay decent money and you will get good candidates. Read below for what is good money.
In rural Scotland and particularly for 2AA Rosette country house hotels, we are finding it hard to get relevant candidates. Skye, Shetland islands and rural Argyll, it is proving hard to get relevant candidates despite the payment of good money.
Suggest paying £25,000 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.
Aberdeenshire, Dundee and East coast, there are quite a few Head Chefs registered and the low oil price is having a knock on effect on the availability of chefs as some come back on shore due to cut backs. Albeit, as we speak the price of oil is moving back up to over $40 a barrel up from a year low of $28 a barrel.
Inverness and the highlands of Scotland mainland, pay good money with good accommodation and you will get some decent candidates unless you are 2AARosette or 3AA Rosette in which case it may be a bit tight.
Head Chefs are being put off jobs that offer set wage for 5 or 6 days per week and are preferring 5 day weeks or if six paid by the day. For instance, you can look at £500 to £600 for a five day week and a further £100 to £120 for the sixth day with overtime for five days being paid pro rata at over 45 or 48 hours sanctioned by management.
I advise against offering a set wage for a seasonal job, eg £25,000 for a six month job. I suspect you will get no applicants.
Suggest wage from £25000 upwards will get some candidates, ideally over £28,000 and suggest paying overtime for extra days and for hours worked over 45 / 48 sanctioned by management.
Ideally this will get candidates with verifiable work histories and often well known to Chefs In Scotland. Below quality will be hit or miss.
3AA Rosette head chefs (suggest £35,000 to £45,000) can be scarce, some 2AA (suggest £27,000 to £35,000) and happy to look.
The more central, the more candidates you will expect to get and the more rural, the harder it can get.
We are happy to meet chefs to discuss at our interview room here in Moffat and also hoteliers and restaurateurs.
If you are looking for a relief chef, we will be offering a discount until the end of January for any new bookings.
CIS fee will be £60 + VAT per week for up to 10 weeks
Rates of pay for the chefs
Head Chef £21 per hour
Sous Chef £19 per hour
Chef de Partie £17 per hour
Give me a call with any requirements you may have
Tel: 01683 222830 or email: jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk
Recruit a Chef and Win a Week in Aberdeen!
Competition time!!!
To win a week’s accommodation at the CIS Property in Aberdeen place an advert directly onto our website at enclosed link.
Get chefs sent your job directly and win a week in Aberdeen at the lovely Den of Maidencraig.
Sleeps up to 4, next to a nature reserve and only 4 miles from the beach and really handy for Deeside.
Draw will be done on Easter Friday and each paid for advert gets an equal chance to win.
Recruit a Chef and Win a Week in Aberdeen!
Competition time!!!
To win a week’s accommodation at the CIS Property in Aberdeen place an advert directly onto our website at enclosed link.
Get chefs sent your job directly and win a week in Aberdeen at the lovely Den of Maidencraig.
Sleeps up to 4, next to a nature reserve and only 4 miles from the beach and really handy for Deeside.
Draw will be done on Easter Friday and each paid for advert gets an equal chance to win.
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