This week Johanna has been busy getting relief chefs out to various different establishments in Scotland. Relief is still very tight as we are right in the middle of the season but we do have some availability from next week.
When I was working as a chef in Dumfries and Galloway I had the chance to work with a couple of relief chefs from Chefs In Scotland. All of them were good guys, and all worked very hard in a very busy environment.
We were looking for a sous chef at the time, we had various different people come and go but it took 2 months to get someone permanent.
A lot of the time chefs on relief are helping out establishments during a very hectic time when kitchens are stretched for staff and time.
Now I am working on the other side of the phone seeing how busy relief is and how hard permanent chef recruitment is, I realise it’s not just ask for a chef and one shall receive. There is a lot more to it than that and a number of processes to go through before a chef actually turns up. But like working in a kitchen as the tickets come through we must do the best we can. In some ways the jobs aren’t similar as there is no cooking involved. However there are a lot of transferable skills such as perseverance, communication and time.
We have made a couple of placements in the North of England and Cumbria so far this year including the Golf Hotel Silloth, Daffodil Hotel and this week The Inn at Brough. We do have other positions in this area so if you are interested in working in this area do send your CV to Jessica at recruitment@chefsinscotland.co.uk.
The weather in Moffat is overcast with some sun today and we are hoping it will keep dry for the Gala this week.
Jessica
By Johanna
It’s beginning to look a lot like SUMMER (about time)
Scott MacIntyre is currently working at the Oban Caledonian as Sous Chef also in Oban is Craig Palmer working at the Queens Hotel.
David Ironside is booked out for a few dates at the Kinloch Hotel over on Arran and also over there is Gordon Todd and Alan Baird both working in Brambles kitchen at Auchrannie.
New relief chef James Oneil and Stewart Howie are working at The Loch Fyne Oyster Bar in Cairndow.
Frank McDonald got asked to go back for just over 3 weeks at The Grant Arms in Monymusk.
Over in the Borders – Mark Murray at New Woll Golf Club, John Forestier at Burts, Michael George at The Dryburgh Abbey Hotel and Craig Watson at The Horse & Hound.
Jamie Atkinson and Jaimie Foran both getting on really well at The Golf View Hotel in Nairn.
James Paton is back helping out for a couple of weeks at The Moorings in Fort William with Eddie Higgins and Piotr Miga.
Thanks everyone for all your hard work and your support.
58 Chefs out working as of Saturday the 4th of July.
Lillian Clarkson is still working over at The Northern Hotel in Brechin.
John Jeremiah finished his 3 week stint over at the Isle ornsay Hotel on Skye and is back over there this time at Ullinish Hotel.
Mark Shaw finished his time down at The Inn at Brough and is now currently working at The Tor Na Coille Hotel up in Banchory along with Steve Moffat.
Steve Nye was up working at The Boat inn in Aboyne and is now working down at the Ducks Hotel at Kilspindie.
Douglas ‘Denzil’ Gillies is currently over working at St Andrews at the Playfairs Restaurant at the Ardgowan Hotel.
Allen Jack is working at The Tongue Hotel with head chef Mikko Koskinen.
Ionel Rizea and Stuart MacColl are working up at The Kingsmills in Inverness.
Mario Pohlmann finished his stint at the Hetland Hall Hotel and is now currently over in Fife at the Pitfirrane Hotel in Dunfermline.
We are still keen to meet relief chefs here at our office in Moffat and we are available most days please email to book an appointment.
Thanks for all your hard work and continued support.
The availability of chefs of all levels is fairly tight as it is the middle of the season and most good chefs are out working.
Head Chefs
There are lots of candidates for jobs around the central belt, Edinburgh, Glasgow and some in Perthshire.
If you are paying over £28,000, and pay overtime after 48 hours on a pro rata basis you will have a good chance of getting a head chef for the central belt.
Finding chefs for the more rural locations, including Aberdeen, can be difficult. For these locations for hotels and rosette chefs we would advise to pay upwards of £28,000 - £30,000 and overtime after 48 hours on a pro rata basis and include accommodation as a package. If you are a smaller place we would suggest upwards of £26,000 including accommodation at no charge.
Sous chefs
The availability of good sous chefs at this time of the year is very tight. To get a good sous chef in the central belt we would advise to pay upwards of £22,000 with overtime after 48 hours on a pro rata basis.
For the more rural locations including Borders, Aberdeen and the islands, we would advise more innovative ways of getting chefs by paying an hourly rate of approximately £12-£13.50 per hour with live-in accommodation and one weekend off a month, one evening free a week or working 4 day weeks with longer hour days.
Chef de partie
In the central belt there are lots of bodies in Glasgow and Edinburgh but fewer chefs wanting to go further afield.
To attract good chefs we are suggesting to employers to think outside the box with regards to wages and hours. We are suggesting upwards of £18,000 with live-in accommodation and one weekend off a month. Or pay an hourly rate of £10 - £11 per hour. Another way you could attract chefs is to offer training or to send them on courses.
Commis chefs
There are some commis chefs looking for work as the colleges finish. To get good commis chefs it is important to have a stable team in place where the commis can learn the trade under other skilled chefs. We would suggest paying minimum wage or £7 per hour with live-in accommodation for more rural areas. Offering training or getting them on day-release at college will help get chefs to stay.
Relief
Relief can and does change daily.
Here we are in the middle of the season and as busy as ever.
Adverts are rolling in steadily and we have a variety of jobs on the website and we have jobs in France, Ireland and in England as well as lots in Scotland. A lot of the jobs are apply - direct but we do have a certain number on our books as well.
Relief is very tight due to the increasing number of jobs and most of our chefs are out working. So if you are interested in relief work please let us know! Johanna has been with us since 2010 and this is the busiest ever season; she broke the record with 36 chefs out in one week recently. Thank you to all our chefs for their continued support and effort on relief.
Permanent placements are steady. We have been placing chefs all over Scotland at a variety of places including Skibo Castle, Kinloch lodge on Skye, Bridge of Orchy in Argyll, Daffodil Hotel down in Cumbria and Lerwick Hotel in Shetland. Finding good young chefs still seems to be a big problem as there seems to be a lot of young chefs leaving the industry. We are trying to introduce better working terms and conditions to get these chefs to stay but we can only advise. Jessica, recruitment consultant, is happy to advise on these terms.
We are keen to get young chefs into industry and keep them there and have recently been getting in touch with colleges. We are happy to help with CV writing for the younger chefs out there who are fresh out of college with limited experience.
We are open 9am-5pm Monday – Friday and 10am-12.30pm on a Saturday.
In the office at the moment we have Johanna Watson, relief chef manageress. Johanna has been with us 5 years now and deals with mostly temporary placements of chefs. We also have Jessica Huntley, recruitment consultant. Jessica has been with us since the end of April and is working on permanent placements for chefs of all levels. Annabel Barr has joined us over the summer season she is currently doing a degree in Accounting and Business at Edinburgh University. She is working on itemising our office as well as chasing up the very important references and taking calls.
We are also happy to meet chefs at our offices in Moffat.
Weather in Moffat is overcast but mainly dry and that’s all we can hope for in this Scottish summer.
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