Not Out but not really much about
16th January 2026
The month January has usually been an exceptionally quiet month for relief work, a good time to be on holiday as many of the Chefs seem to do, heading off in the winter to Thailand or Spain, not a bad idea at all.
There have been a couple of relief jobs in but there are upwards of 40 chefs marked available on the relief database so your chances are quite slim of getting work on relief so please do consider other options.
This will change as time moves on through late winter into spring and then into the summer when there will be far more relief jobs than relief chefs available.
There have been times in the last ten years when very good relief chefs well known to CIS with a 100% track record for completion along with excellent feedback via references and finish forms, have been kept in work all year round. That is not currently the case and pitching up and staying the course is not enough, we do actually expect a high quality of work and effort to go with the premium rates for CIS relief work.
Permanent jobs have also been fairly quiet, there are currently just less than 30 permanent and seasonal jobs on the CIS website which compares with 25 this time last year but there were 55 at this time of the year in 2020 before lockdown.
Times do change as all football managers know, poor results can often result in change, although not many chefs will be able to smile quite as much as Amorin at Man United when he was given the heave ho with some huge settlement.
Closer to home in Aberdeen, despite a fantastic cup win for the Dons in 2025 Jimmy Thelin after a blistering start had a pretty shitty track record in the league and off he went to spend more time with his family after a year and a half commuting from Sweden.
The last year I have been to see Nottingham Forrest take on the might Man City in Manchester, further down to Nottingham to watch Everton score in the last minute to win one nil. A long treck.
Carlisle is a bit closer to Moffat and a great atmosphere and some superb football is played, and often my neighbour Dave will drive us to Lockerbie and get the train to Carlisle, a quick mile walk and sometimes a pint of John Smiths for less than a fiver in the Jimmy Glass stand..what is not to like?
So back in Aberdeen I felt that I should pop along to Pittodrie for the first time since the late 1970’s when the Dons played Spurs complete with Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa, 1978 World Cup Winners with Argentina.
I went online and bought a ticket and on the day got the free bus down from Maidencraig with a little apprehension, not much. It took me a while to find where my ticket was for one of the stands, The Merkland Stand.
I was pointed down the front where my seat was and noticed lots of young men with black jackets and balaclavas. I walked in asking them politely to move with my green Superdry jacket and coloured bonnet, there were a few large flag poles which I carefully moved before taking my seat in amongst the lively fans.
The game started and they all stood up and started singing. I thought it best to do likewise, albeit making a decision at half time to head up the back, grab a pie and take the walk back to Union Street for a quick pint in the relative calm of Wetherspoons.
Chef Recruitment into 2026
For the first two months of 2026, we expect it to be a very very strong employers’ market for recruiting chefs.
The availability of both permanent and relief chefs will be pretty good.
What sort of wages to pay to recruit permanent chefs?
Head Chef we suggest rates from £18 to £25 per hour for usually a 40 hour week with accommodation available at no charge to the chef if needed.
Sous Chef we advise on paying anything from £16 to £22 per hour, again with accommodation if needed.
Chef de parties can be anything from £15 up to £18 per hour.
Commis chefs would suggest the national minimum wage at £7.55 up to £12.71 for 21 years and older from April 2026. This varies according to age.
There are several ways that you can recruit chefs via CIS.
Johanna Watson is the Relief Chef Manager.
Ian Godfrey is the Permanent Chef recruitment Consultant.
Both can offer to place adverts also or you can post directly on our website.
I can also help with permanent recruitment, although due to personal choice, this is done via email and messenger, no phones.
You can email michael@chefsinscotland.co.uk for a quote, help and direction or phone Jojo and Ian on 01683 222830 and 01330 476782 respectively.
It is a regular occurrence for there to be news of a hotel or restaurant or café shutting down, yesterday it was The View in Aviemore.
According to the Strathspey & Badenoch Herald, the café has gone into liquidation with Begbies Traynor, taking over dealing with what remains.
Begbies Traynor, despite sounding like a lost shoe from Trainspotting, are a leading business recovery, financial advisory and property services consultancy.
The twelve employees were given one day’s notice and will have issues regarding pay, holiday pay, and pensions.
Meanwhile, in Yorkshire, the Punch Bowl Inn in Burton has been bought over by a community group, who have raised £298,000 towards purchasing and keeping it open.
It does seem quite possible to raise large amounts of money for Hospitality projects, from the private sector of from public monies via grants.
Some of these ventures do meet with success and reasonable longevity such as The Old School Hub and Café, not so far from here, at Eskdalemuir.
What was a primary school, which shut it’s doors to pupils in 2004, has now been open again and trading for over a decade and providing several great amenities to the 250 plus locals who stay in the valley, a shop, a café, a music venue and gallery. This is a charitable organisation.
With increasing costs, which are well documented, for many businesses in Scottish Hospitality, there will no doubt me many more companies shutting down, either with or without good notice, in the coming year.
Committees, who may have people on board, who come from a strong background in accessing private and public money, can be a viably different approach to what are often sole traders or limited companies in the private sector.
Good luck to the twelve employees who have lost their jobs a week shy of Christmas and hopefully they will not be long in finding their next paths in 2026.
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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