News

Thursday 1st February 2018

1^st February 2018 Newspage

The first month has passed by and it still is cold but with a little more sun staying later into the day and it is almost light at leaving office time.

Tom is brewing a test beer for our tasting evening in Lockerbie on the 23^rd of March. It will be a further exploration of the “twa dugs” theme; although Poco, the little Spanish Bodeguero has taken to trying to nip the back of Tom’s heels. Poco is currently in the back of the van with Bentley the Basset.

I am waiting for a meeting at four pm and have made a start on cleaning the fish tank in my attic office which has given us an idea for a new name for the beer.

“3Fished”

We are hoping to get building works started shortly in Lockerbie and wait patiently for the drawings to come back and can then meet the builders.

Pricing is being done on all the equipment needed also and it will be an exciting few months as we push on towards actuality.

The Shares in Lowland Brewing are selling and if anyone wants to see the prospectus or indeed buy a share or to team up with a friend and buy a half share, or five pals chip in for one share, we would be delighted to hear from you.

The Chef recruitment office is a little quieter this week, before the take off. Johanna Watson is moving house and has purchased a house in Moffat and will be off from tomorrow afternoon. Jessica is working through permanent head and sous chef recruitment and got an excellent amount of permanent placements last week, six in total which is a great figure.

I will go back into the main CIS office for some time from Monday and will pick up relief work to allow some continuity with the permanent work.

I will do my best not to upset anyone.

Many thanks for your continued support and patience.

Michael

A meal

Cooking a meal

The evening has moved on now

The MID WINTER SUN has long since set

And the two dogs are both sleeping gently

Beneath so comfortable snores and small movements

Earlier, before ten pm we sat and drank a bottle of Chablis

A chardonnay which cost £10 and was bought in Aldi in Carlisle

The meal had been simple to reflect our swim at “The Pools”

Which are not as arty as our usual haunt at The Crichton in Dumfries

The potatoes were boiled, after dicing finely, leaving to cool in the fridge

As we chatted in the small galley kitchen and chopped shallots and garlic

And we were happy. The electric; sautéed bacon pieces, bought cheaply from

The Spar in Carlisle that morning as the smells of coriander and parsley hinted

Of an hour when we sat and chatted with the evenings lights hanging gently

Whilst winter contemplates what tomorrow might bring.

Out and about Friday 26th January.

Nearly the end of January already, it can be a strange month for some establishments for us it has been very busy with lots of new jobs coming in for the season ahead, lots of places looking at good rates and good working terms. Lots of new chefs getting registered and lots of CV’s getting sent out.

Relief is patchy but we have placed more chefs this year than last year and with 35 chefs currently out working this is up by 12 more than last year.

We are keen to meet chefs here at our office in Moffat regarding relief and senior chef positions. If you would like to pop in for a chat please get in touch with us via email jojo@chefsinscitland.co.uk or phone 01683 222830.

Tom has been up in Skye learning from The Cuillin Brewery and has enjoyed every minute he has also had the chance to pop into a few of the hotels. Safe journey back home Tom 😊

Who we got out at the beginning of January

Michael Njoroge at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness

Sarah Pozzi at The Caley Sample Room in Edinburgh

Thomas Mclean at Queens Hotel in Lerwick

Sarah Pozzi at Springkell in Eaglesfield

Bobby Ainsworth at Letterfinlay Lodge and Bridge of Cally (travelling between the 2 hotels to provide days off for Graham Smith and Dale Paton)

Alex Burns at Meadow Park in Bridge of Allan

Sarah Jeffrey at The Caley Sample Room in Edinburgh

Paul Sellers at The Cumbria Park Hotel in Carlisle

Ionel Rizea at The Bridge of Cally Hotel in Blairgowrie

Stuart Palmer at Scripture Union Scotland in Aviemore

Stacey Donnelly at The Camp in Newton Stewart

Jim Miller at Duisdale Hotel in Skye

Paul Wenbourne at The Kings Seat in Dollar and then on to The Bridge Hotel in Buttermere

Ionel Rizea at The Old Mill Inn in Pitlochry

Scott MacIntyre at Pentland View Care Home in Thurso

And Ignas Narijauskas at The White Horse Inn in Balmedie

Thanks for all your hard work 😊

Newspage 24th January 2018

Newspage 24^th January 2018

I doubt that I am alone in thinking where have the last 20 years gone!

It is good that Johanna, Jessica and Tom in the office are still young and can keep in touch with the rapidly changing world whilst I cling to our website and Facebook page, never having managed to quite get to grips with Twitter, let alone Instagram and snapchat (spelling!)

I do not know how this year is going to pan out in the CIS offices here in Moffat.

There is much more competition than there was back at the turn of the millennium when I was a fledgling chef recruiter and there were large agencies such as Stafffinders, Reed and Berkeley Scott.

They also traditionally charged percentages for placements, anything from 8.75% up to 20%.

Dee Cooper gave out phone numbers and charged £30 a pop.

Brian Meechan sent out chefs from Clarke Staff Agency and it was a take it or leave it situation.

We have been fortunate to have kept going so long in what is becoming a more and more competitive market. I am quite confident that our relief database of chefs and our permanent database have more information on them than most and perhaps all other agencies.

We actually had our most ever adverts on our website in 2017, over 1000. So far this year they are holding up also.

Since 2013 when we committed to improvements in technology and tried to commit to more in-house training, both turnover and net profit have increased which allows us to diversity into property and this year into Lowland Brewery, down in Lockerbie.

Let’s see how this year pans out.

I am not hands on in the CIS office anymore and have not been for over a year.

One of the things that has saddened me has been the premature death of so many chefs over the years. Many who we met or became friends with such as fellow Aberdonian Stuart Taylor, Tam Dennet who was just in his early sixties and last year it was sad to hear about the early passing away of Paul Burns who had been one of Scotland’s best known chefs for many years.

There is definitely a correlation between working as a chef and poor life expectancy.

On relief, there are quite a few decent, reliable and hard working chefs who now find themselves in their sixties and they continue to pitch up and graft away as their knees begin to give way. I do not know how that story ends.

At the other extreme, there are many young chefs coming into the industry and gaining great experience in some of Scotland’s many quality hotels.

Some of the hotels and restaurants retention levels leave a bit to be desired, although many are now forward thinking and imaginative in their approach to employee retention.

We will have a busy year here at Chefs In Scotland. I hope that it doesn’t pass too quickly.

Many thanks for your continued support and patience.

NB if anyone wants to come down to chat about their career, or their future, I am more than happy to meet here in Moffat for a blether, email Michael@chefsinscotland.co.uk

No guarantees you will get a CIS mug, but you never know.