Head chefs
If paying good money and in a central location such as Glasgow, Edinburgh,
Stirling, Dundee, Aberdeen and Perth the availability of head chefs is very good,
basically, the more central and the larger local population the better
availability.
What is good money for a head chef? This can vary from a small pub to a large
five star or 3AA Rosette Hotel and can be anything from £14 per hour for a
one-man job cooking simple food to £45,000 and
upwards.
For a standard hotel job we would suggest in the
region £35,000+ with overtime paid pro rata over 45 to 48 hours sanctioned by
management.
Bonus schemes always help and can be based on
getting a gross profit margin of over say 65 to 70% and it is always advisable
stressing in advance how often the bonus is paid and what the exact criteria
are. Other bonuses may be based on increase in sales. Keeping wages ratio down
and helping to achieve certain net profits subject to maintaining quality of
food, kitchen cleanliness and staff retention.
In more rural Scotland it is harder to get and
retain chefs and often accommodation should be offered to attract suitable
candidates.
Sous chefs
The availability of sous chefs in rural Scotland is
good if providing accommodation. Sometimes, a mature former head chef will be happy to take a step back to
work alongside head chef.
In more central Scotland, there are candidates
about if paying decent money and
offering good working conditions there is no reason why you cannot keep a good
sous chef with a stable track record.
In rural Scotland, there can be a need to think
outside of the box to retain and attract good sous chef candidates.
Wages should be (i.e. upwards of £25,000 or £12-13 per hour)
Chef de parties
Availability is very good in Glasgow, Edinburgh and
the central belt.
In rural Scotland with accommodation there are candidates
and you will get applicants if wages are decent, suggesting £10 to £12 per hour
or a salary of between £20,000 - £24,000. The more money you can pay the better
the availability of chefs is.
For chef de partie jobs it is a chef market.
Commis chefs
There are usually a few candidates available
centrally or further afield if offering accommodation.
Enclosed link to minimum wages.
www.minimum-wage.co.uk/
Pastry Chefs: this is quite a specialist position
and there are often a couple of specialised pastry chefs looking, not always
though.
We find that the availability of candidates who are currently employed to go for interviews from the second week in December until the beginning of January is slim.
Availability of Relief Chefs changes, and we can advise daily. The rates of pay are £13 to £17 per hour according to the position.