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.
By Johanna
A very busy week last week.
Frank McDonald and Jaimie Foran were over working at The Highland Show.
Stuart Hazell and Marion Pohlman are working down in Dumfriesshire at The Hetland Hall Hotel.
Jonny Lewis after doing a long stint over at The Crusoe Hotel in Fife he is now up working at The Ben Loyal Hotel in Tongue.
Andy Mill finished at The Oban Caledonian and has just started a week’s stint at Lochailort Inn.
Grant Buchanan is now on to his 7th week at The Ardvasar Hotel up in Skye.
Max Nisbet was back helping at The Kings Seat in Dollar and is now back at Livingston’s Restaurant in Linlithgow.
Lillian Clarkson is working over in Brechin at The Northern Hotel for 4 weeks as Head Chef.
New relief chef Brian Ainslie is getting on very well at Auchrannie Resort on Arran and has been asked to stay on.
Michael Njoroge is currently up at The Caberfeidh Hotel in Stornoway.
Thanks to you all for your hard work and support.
By Johanna
Lovely weather down here in Moffat hope everyone is making the most of it.
Paddy Farren finished his 2 week stint at The Cross in Kingussie and is currently working at The Ballachulish Hotel and has been asked to stay longer.
Martin Furlong has been able to help out at The Glencoe Hotel, Burnside Hotel, Castle Hotel and The Dryfesdale Hotel.
John Jeremiah came to meet us last month from Ballater and is working a 3 week stint over in Skye at the Isle Ornsay Hotel.
After being at Auchrannie for over 1 year on reluief Stephen Kessell is now working down in Oban at Ee-usk as Sous Chef.
New relief chef Steven Johnston is getting on excellent at The Dryburgh Abbey Hotel in the Borders.
Graham Glass completed his stint at the Classroom in Nairn and is now working as relief head chef at The Bridge of Orchy Hotel.
Keep up the good work everyone and thank you for support
By Johanna
Well we are now into June and let’s hope the weather is going to improve.
After spending a year on relief at The Palm Court in Aberdeen, Allen Jack is now working over at The Moorings Hotel in Fort William.
Sam Bernard, a very talented young chef has completed 1 month down at the Airds Hotel in Port Appin and is now at The Isle Ornsay Hotel working for 1 week.
Lillian Clarkson is over working at The Kirkcudbright Bay Hotel as Sous Chef.
Michael Njoroge finished at Daffodil Hotel and was over at The Glencoe Hotel for 3 days and is currently working at The Inchture Hotel.
Alan MacPherson has been kept very busy he has just finished at The Mansion House Hotel in Elgin and has just started at The Golf View Hotel in Nairn along with Peter Norrie and Jamie Atkinson.
Grant Buchanan is getting on very well at Ardvasar Hotel as Head Chef with Jim Quinn as Sous Chef.
Richard Booth is working hard over at The Flodigarry Hotel.
Derek Sneddon and Ryan Fowler are working for Adrian Walker at The Royal Hotel in Keith and newly opened Kastille Hotel in Turriff.
Rosie Robertson was out at the Castle Hotel in Huntly for a few days 2 weekends ago.
Thanks again ladies and gents for all your hard work and support.
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