Availability of Chefs 16th April 2018
Head chefs
If paying good money and in a central location such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling and Perth the availability of decent head chefs is good, basically, the more central and the larger local population the better availability.
What is good money for a head chef? This can vary from a small pub to a large five star or 3AA Rosette Hotel and can be anything from £12 per hour for a one man job cooking simple food to £45,000 and upwards.
For a standard hotel job in I would suggest £28,000 to £35,000 with overtime paid pro rata over 45 to 48 hours sanctioned by management.
Bonus schemes always help and can be based on getting a gross profit margin of over say 65 to 70% and it is always advisable stressing in advance how often the bonus is paid and what the exact criteria are. Other bonuses may be based on increase in sales. Keeping wages ratio down and helping to achieve certain net profits subject to maintaining quality of food, kitchen cleanliness and staff retention.
In more rural Scotland it is harder to get and retain chefs and often accommodation should be offered to attract suitable candidates.
Sous chefs
The availability of sous chefs in rural Scotland is getting poorer as we move into middle April. Sometimes, a mature former head chef will be happy to take a step back to work alongside head chef.
In more central Scotland, there are quite a few candidates about and if paying decent money and offering good working conditions there is no reason why you cannot land and keep a good sous chef with a stable track record.
In rural Scotland, there can be a need to think outside of the box to retain and attract good sous chef candidates and many establishments find it easier to take on relief chefs for the season.
Chef de parties
Availability is good in Glasgow, Edinburgh and the central belt.
In rural Scotland with accommodation there are candidates if wages are decent, suggesting £9 to £11 per hour. The more money you can pay the better the availability of chefs is.
For chef de partie jobs it is a chef market.
Commis chefs
There are usually a few candidates available centrally or further afield if offering accommodation.
Pastry Chefs: this is quite a specialist position and there are often a couple of specialised pastry chefs looking, not always though.
Enclosed link to minimum wages.
Availability of Relief Chefs changes daily and we can advise daily, it is currently quite good and the rates of pay are the same as last year. From £12.50 to £16 per hour according to the season. These rates may go up as the season progressed.
13th April 2018 Newsletter
“Makings of an Entrepreneur”
Rule 1: Pitch up
Rule 2: Pitch up
Rule 3: it is a struggle. You are working away, trying hard… continue to pitch up.
Rule 4: Nothing is going quite right; your work colleagues are getting adverts for fun, making placements (both relief and permanent) like picking apples from a low lying apple tree. You are getting nothing. Nada…nichts…nic..hakuna..rien…squat diddly. See Rule 1 pitch up.
Rule 5: listen, be aware of all that is happening around you, take note, carry forward, work on, try to improve, learn.
Rule 6: Persevere. This isn’t going to come easily and happen overnight. Your name is not Zucherberg.
Rule 7: Persevere. Didn’t work yesterday? Huh? Not working today. Guess what it may not work out tomorrow either. It may not work out next week. Your name is not Alexander Graham Bell.
Rule 8: Adapt, fed up of sinking. Why not try swimming. Learn to swim, it may be difficult and the first strokes hard and those other swimmers will swim past you as you splash and gasp for air.
Rule 9: Adapt. Others have struggled and learned to learn from failure. Keep trying. Keep striving to improve. Don’t give up.
Rule ten: Pitch up. Make 4 permanent placements in a week. Get adverts for fun. Make Beer.
Lowland Brewing 10th April 2018
Shares are selling quickly for Lowland Brewing; there are still some left but I am hopeful that they will sell out before too long.
We are making great progress with the premises in Lockerbie and the main brewery equipment will arrive in June and we will get started with brewing beer commercially after that; initially with Dryfe Blonde 5 and Dryfe Ale.
Gin production of Lockerbie Gin will take place later this year.
Enclosed is a share prospectus for anyone who is interested in buying one or more shares.
The cost per share is £500 and can be paid in one installment or over 10 months at £50 per month. You will get your own shareholder certificate and a monthly newsletter exclusive to shareholders. We plan to hold fun events for shareholders.
If anyone wants to buy shares please pm me or email
Newspage 15th March 2018
We have copies kept of old newspages in the offices here in Moffat going back to 2008 which was when I moved down to Moffat from Skye in late November after a three week trip to India where I managed to get lost at Delhi airport.
Almost ten years on and we have quite swish offices in Sunnybrae, Old Well Road in Moffat, with carpets and new desks bought in early 2017. There is lots of space.
CIS is on the move again and as of Monday the 4th of June we will me making the 400 yard trip down onto Well Street in Moffat, smaller premises but what is an actual business premise as opposed to a house which has been converted.
We will be keeping the same numbers, website and email address, our Facebook page will also be in the same part of cyberspace.
I hope that there are not the same complications with switching the phone lines over as there was back in 2009 when we shut down the Portree office on Wentworth Street, overlooking the Tongadale Hotel. I hope that BT gets it right this time.
It will be time to say goodbye to the fax, goodbye to the lovely large interview room which I might just use for more traditional dinner parties and maybe a summer buffet.
I broke the news to Johanna and Jessica on Monday morning past and I am relieved that they both seem quite excited about the move and not having Saturday morning fish feeding duties. Bentley the Basset Hound and Poco the little Spanish Bodeguero will remain with me in Sunnybrae.
It is a busy old week so far in the CIS offices, five permanent placements so far, almost 30 adverts including two in Hong Kong which is always a boost! Johanna is into double figures for relief jobs out and we may make the 60 target for the second time this year. Tom is on holiday this week, coming back Monday to do some chef recruitment and work on more concise details for our brewery in Lockerbie.
As I write Jessica is getting another advert out.
The cool weather has come back today and the dogs are sitting quite content before I wake them from their slumber for the afternoon walk.
Then back to the office for some sous chef hunting.
The time in Moffat has been good for Chefs In Scotland, after our start on Skye all those years ago when many of us were still young.
7th March Thoughts from Spain
We made our way out from Manchester airport last Sunday, not quite three days after the original planned departure from Glasgow airport, which was cancelled amidst the late winter snow in Scotland and much of England.
It can take a couple of days to get into the rhythm of life in this part of the Costa Del Sol; silly little worries about a couple of defunct light bulbs and a broken toaster.
Waking up this morning, the sun had decided to come out and the sky was blue.
Lindsey and myself made a list of small errands for the little apartment, a “pueblo” at Capistrano Village in Nerja. We drove down, parked up next to Beijing Bazaar and had soon got our chores done for the day. We plan to collect the car tomorrow.
The beach at Torrecilla still has debris from the recent weather, unusual for the Costa del Sol; plastic bottles, broken bamboo sticks and cans sit on the high water-line. We sit and soak on the sun, with others welcoming some gentle heat.
The Tapas as ever helps, a couple of new Bars to go with old favourites; Sevilla and Rotunda where a glass of nice white or red Rioja can be drunk with a choice of gambas, queso, patatas con aioli, jambon de seranno and so much more.
Tonight there is some classical music at the community social hub at Capistrano where I attended by first Annual General Meeting yesterday. I kept by hand down when invitations were asked from the floor for new Committee members. Enough. The average age would be 70 plus. All nice people, polite and mainly comfortable.
Later, we will walk down to Irish Annie’s where my sister in law’s friend Jackie is playing music.
Tomorrow, Manana can wait.
Michael and Lindsey in Nerja
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