We currently have 31 chefs out working mostly in rural Scotland.
We are still happy to register new relief chefs please just email your CV reference details and hygiene certificates to jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk
Here are some of the chef we have out working at the moment
Ryan Williamson is at The Drovers Inn near Loch Lomond
Ally Mcgeachy and Dougie Gillies are both at The Kames Hotel in Tighnabruich
Ian Godfrey is at Mhor 84 in Balquidder
Norbert Waniek and Craig Eggers are at the Glenburn Hotel in Rothesay
Vytis Baltrunas is at Darroch Learg Hotel in Ballater
Lee Tomlinson is working part time at the Collingwood Arms Hotel
Dino Magnotta is away to the Isle of Lewis to work at the Borve Hotel
Trevor Williams is at The Banff Springs, in Banff with Dave Mcconnachie
Paul Hackland was last with CIS 6 years ago when he went to the Dowans Hotel in Aberlour and stayed, he is currently at the Glen Mhor Hotel in Inverness
Ionel Rizea is at The Skeasbost Hotel in Skye
Derrick Bartley is at the Cairngorm Hotel in Aviemore
Thanks to all of our relief chefs for your continued hard work and support :)
It’s great to be back in the office :)
There has been a steady flow of jobs coming in on a relief, permanent and seasonal basis.
The availability of relief chefs is ok / good. If you are available for work please PM me or email jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk with your dates.
If you are looking to register for relief please send across a copy of your updated CV and reference details.
We currently have 12 relief chefs out working with more starting next week.
Glyn Musker is at The Inn at Lathones in Fife
Alan Macpherson is at Cuillinhills Hotel in Skye
Stuart Maccoll worked last weekend at The Old Manse of Blair where Alan Brown is currently.
Michael Njoroge was at The Knockomie Inn for 1 week
Damien Bolton is at Stonefield Castle where he was asked to stay longer
Alan Rennie was at Tigh and Eilean near Sheildaig
Colin Thomson is also in Skye at Hotel Eilean Iarmain
Martin Kelly is at The Kinloch Lodge Hotel in Skye
Jo Fenner in Cullen at the Seafield Arms
Jason Keenan just started at The Black Bull in Gartmore
Barry Owen is at The Old Colfin Creamery in Port Patrick
Thanks to all our chefs for your continued support over what has been a very trying 4 months.
Keep up the excellent work :)
17th July 2020
Out and Almost about
A live out commis chef job in the Scottish Borders is getting no applicants. Wow!
What does that indicate?
As we come out of lockdown and some, very much some, hotels and restaurants open up; the industry problems of an aging demographic of chefs quite possibly remains the same as it was pre lockdown.
Lockdown: have a job in the public sector and get furloughed and get your job back, for now as lockdown eases.
Lockdown: have a job in Scottish Hospitality and maybe get furloughed, but just as maybe get no furlough and made redundant. Not a criticism of private industry which has to play with the cards dealt.
The demographics may be worse as many may have managed to find work in other industries such as care or online retail.
Jobs, there are some and after 12 weeks of inactivity CIS made our first relief placement since lockdown on Thursday the 9th of July.
There were two more relief placements made yesterday.
There are permanent jobs out there as well to apply for and I expect that there will be some more in the
next few weeks .
I took my car over to the garage in Beattock this morning after posting an early morning song and walking back there was a steady flow of campervans leaving Moffat. When popping out for a couple of pints on Wednesday night there were quite a few tourists about, mainly middle aged and early retirement ages and possibly with quite a bit of disposable income.
One of the phone calls yesterday came from down in Tigh Na Bruich and the report was busy in rural Scotland as the tourist season started up again.
Not a big fan of the sound of the word staycation, but what I am seeing and hearing is that many people from England are holidaying in Scotland.
How long will the season last and how much demand will there be for chefs?
Not sure, but there are chef jobs out there for now and why not apply for the job on north Skye for 3 months at 13 pounds an hour live in
Next week we will be open longer hours, not quite back to 9 to 5pm and will see how work pans out up until the end of July.
26th May 2020 Newspage
That is over two months now since the call to lockdown came, the call to shut the hotels, restaurants and pubs in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
The Coronavirus Pandemic seems to have passed over much of the world in its first flush and we will see if there is the much vaunted second wave or not.
Sadly, many people have lost their lives to Covid-19; the UK death toll sits at 36,914 with 121 new fatalities.
“Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives”
In the main, the population seems to have done that.
“Stay alert, control the virus, save lives” has been a little bit more confusing with a UK / Scottish divide adding some confusion to the less obvious phrasing.
“Stay home” is quite clear “Stay alert” not quite so clear.
Thoughts are now turning to reopening, with much of Europe having opened up restaurants and bars or in the case of Sweden, never having shut them down.
What will the rest of the 2020 season bring? Difficult to try and say. No doubt, there will be some life and some businesses will strike up, pitch up their stall and trade. Others may choose not to. That is everyone’s prerogative.
At CIS, an office has been kept open at Sunnybrae in Moffat where I live and where CIS worked out of from 2009 upon leaving Wentworth Street in Portree and before the day to day business moved into the shop on Well Street in Moffat.
There are reduced opening hours for now.
Monday to Friday 9am to 3pm and shut 1pm on the Wednesday. No doubt, these hours will change. If you get an answer machine please leave a message and I will get back to you. As the jobs pick up, I will spend more time on the phones, a bit like the early days in Glenmhor on Skye, I have one landline and one fancyish mobile which will be used when the time comes.
The three ladies who worked at CIS have all started their notice periods of redundancy as of yesterday the 25th of May.
The main issues getting the CIS office back up and running Well Street would be BT and Caterer.com who are chasing CIS for full payments whilst there is no activity. I am loathe to pay them off.
CIS Prices for hoteliers and restaurateurs have been reduced, and CIS is keenly priced to go.
Initially, the rates for relief chefs will be down a couple of pounds also to reflect the expected supply and demand for chefs.
After 20 good years of trading, one bad year is maybe to be expected.
Hopefully, for all the decent, honest, hard-working and skilled chefs who are keen to get back to work, the work will come back.
Some- time in July?
Many of us will be ready.
Individual Iceland stores around the country have introduced an OAP's hour from 8am and 9am, some other stores have opened at different times to their preference. This was introduced to allow the elderly to shop in quieter and less stressful times. Bulk buying has became a nation wide problem and is stopping many vulnerable people getting the essentials needed to survive. I personally haven't stocked up on any essential items as I dont feel there is a need for it quite yet. Items such as toilet roll, long life milk, baby formula and pasta/rices are in high demand. Luckily where we are situated our local Co-op is well stocked and we also have an essentials shop up the high street. However, travel 15 minutes down the road to Lockerbie Tesco and the shelves are getting rather bare. We need to look after the more vulnerable in our communities and bulk buying only stops this.
Our local bakery is doing deliveries around the town to those who are more vulnerable and for the over 70's who are too scared to leave their house. We have a great community here in Moffat and it looks like the community is putting things in to place now before we are all in lock down like Spain, Italy and China. Hopefully it wont come to this but measures need to be in place.
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