News

News page 4th October

In the Chefs In Scotland office at this time of year it may seem that it quietens down a little bit. Although relief is still very tight and the adverts a coming in there isn’t the demand for chefs across the country as there has been for the past 3 months. There is still plenty to do in the office between now and until the end of October. This includes processing all of the CVs that come in including chef interviewing and references. This is also the time of year we get things done in the office such as fibre optic broadband this week, refurbishing the office including painting decorating, new carpets and office furniture.

During this time especially over November is a time when we get all of our filing and admin up to date.; the things which are difficult to do in July when the phone is ringing all day. We order our stock for the upcoming season such as the famous Chefs In Scotland pens, daily books and up-to-date hotel guides. We also send out brochures to potential new and previously lapsed customers. So if you may be looking for chefs in the future please get in touch and I will send out a brochure to you with a structure of our pricing and services we offer.

Availability of Chefs in Scotland 23rd September

There are candidates in central Scotland if paying good money in excess of £28,000 and upwards for head chef jobs.

In rural Scotland including Inverness and all the highlands and islands, there are not many head chefs and we advise offering accommodation with permanent head chef jobs to attract candidates. Otherwise you may have to wait some time until a relevant local candidate becomes available.

In rural Scotland and particular 2AA Rosette country house hotels relevant candidates are scarce. Skye, Shetland Islands and rural Argyll, it is proving hard to get relevant candidates despite the payment of good money (about £35,000 for 2AA Rosette head chef)

Suggest paying £28,000 upwards to £40,000 according to requirements and demands of the job. Ideally we advise for a five day week and over-time paid on a pro rata basis for extra days worked and for hours in excess of 48 on a pro rata basis.

Aberdeenshire, Dundee and East coast, there are a few Head Chefs registered.

In rural Scotland we are advising offering live in also, ideally at no charge to the chef.

The more central, the more candidates you will expect to get and the more rural, the harder it can get.

With all the social media currently available, many chefs are becoming very savvy about where they wish to work and establishments with records of poor chef retention may find it harder to attract good quality permanent candidates. Scotland is quite a small country.

Sous chefs

If it is a live in position for 4 star hotel suggest paying £24,000 to £30,000.

In central areas such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Stirling can try live-out and there are a few relevant chefs. In rural Scotland, it can be harder to get candidates but there are some candidates becoming available as we come closer to the end of the season if there is a good package in place.

2AA Rosettes and are quite scarce. Suggest wages of £26,000 - £28,000 upwards to £30,000 for 3AA Rosette sous chef.

A good way to attract candidates is to pay hourly rates for every hour worked by chefs.For sous chefs suggest £12 to £14 per hour this will help to attract and retain good candidates.

If paying salaried, we suggest five day week with overtime pro rata over 48 hours.

Chef de parties

Availability currently ok in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perthshire and central belt. Quality can be mixed. In rural Scotland with accommodation there are a few candidates if wages are decent, suggesting £9 to £12 per hour.

There are some chefs looking for live in accommodation and may be happy to relocate and again are of varying quality.

If paying by salary suggest £19,000 for a 45 hour week works out £8.11 an hour which is on the low side. Suggest paying up to £22,000 or hourly rate £8.50 - £12 per hour with live in accommodation at a small charge. We would hope you will get decent candidates with this.

Commis chefs

A few bodies available. Enclosed link to minimum wages.

www.minimum-wage.co.uk/

Pastry a few available happy to have a look

For perm we can look if pay “fee of interest” or advertise

Availability of Relief Chefs change daily and we can advise.

Best placements while working at Chefs In Scotland

It took me nearly 2 months to make my first placement that actually turned up. Since then in the 16 months that I have been working at Chefs In Scotland it has got easier and I have placed lots of chefs all over Scotland and some in the north of England. There are a few placements that stick out as being my top placements that I was very glad to achieve.

The first was Peter Cullen at Kinloch Lodge in Skye. Peter just lived about 12 miles away and we always say that the location is key. He had previously been working at Duisdale which has 2AA rosettes and had done quite a lot of relief work with us including at loch Melfort Hotel which also has 2AA rosettes. He went to work alongside Marcello Tully as sous chef after interview, trial and much discussion and both parties seemed equally happy. My first placement in a 3AA rosette establishment, delighted!

Next was my first Head chef placement tied in with my first placement in the north of England. George Soutar had been working in Arbroath and went all the way down to the Ancient Unicorn which is near Barnard Castle in Durham. George made the journey down twice, once for interview and then for trial before accepting the position. He is still there and the reviews that the Ancient Unicorn have been getting after taking over when George started in October have been very good.

Then a pastry chef, Diana Cerga at the lovely Burts hotel with excellent head chef Trevor Williams. She seems to be getting on excellently going by the photos posted on Trevor’s facebook page. She had a very stable CV as she had been working over in Inverary since coming to the UK in 2014 and was keen to progress her pastry experience.

Placing a chef at a place you have worked at is never an easy feat as it is typical that everything that will go wrong does go wrong. But with Raymond Murray this was not the case. After chasing up references, The Buccleuch and Queensberry Hotel took Raymond for a one month trial as chef de partie and he stayed nearly a year. I have since placed Raymond in another establishment when he left to move closer to home. It is very nice when the good placements come back to you.

Last but not least was Kamil Gloeh at Gleneagles as sous chef. Although I have placed many chefs at Gleneagles getting to place the sous chef in the 5* resort was a great achievement. Kamil had previously worked at The Old Course and Malmaison in Dundee so was a perfect fit for the job and he has been there just over 6 weeks.

So all in all my favourite placements vary from levels to establishments and there a many more to mention which I am equally proud off as well.

Jessica Huntley