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.
We currently have 31 chefs out working with 11 confirmed so far this week
We have had 3 cancellations due to the coronavirus
If you are a relief chef that is booked and cannot make it to a job with symptoms of the virus please get in touch, at the moment we have excellent availability.
There are still lots of jobs being registered on a permanent basis, if you are looking for work please email over your CV which should be updated, reference details and hygiene certificate to recruitment@chefsinscotland.co.uk
Here are a few chefs we have out working just now
Kirsty Hamilton is at Thainstone House Hotel in Inverurie
Chris Wright is at The Kings Manor Hotel in Edinburgh
Peter Norrie is at Thainstone Events in Inverurie
Ross Hunter is with Stuart MacColl at Lomond Hills Hotel in Cupar
John Taylor and Ryan Williamson are at The Skeabost Hotel in Skye
Marc Taylor also in Skye he is at Kinloch Lodge Hotel
Michael Pallister is at Bishop’s House Isle of Iona
Chris Roberti is at Inn at Lathones in Fife
Philippe Alamichel is at Arnotdale House
Chris Robertson is at The Castle Hotel Huntly
Ben Mailer is at Airds Hotel in Appin
Jim Miller is at The Inverarary Inn
Brian Ferguson is at The Scores Hotel in St Andrews
Thanks all for your hard work and support 😊
Monday 9th March
As we are approaching closer to Easter the office is gradually getting busier. Relief has picked up and Johanna is getting jobs confirmed daily, permanent has also picked up significantly with jobs being registered daily. We have lots of permanent and seasonal positions available across Scotland including the Highlands and Islands such as the Isle of Harris, Isle of Skye, Fort William etc.
Jessica is currently on annual leave until Wednesday so myself and Johanna have picked up Senior recruitment for the time being. We have a good availability of chefs at the moment and we are getting lots of CV’s in daily. We are still getting chefs from outside of the EU looking for work in Scotland but we keep getting asked what is going to happen come December time. Sadly, I don’t think any of us really know the full scale yet of what is to come. We can only hope that those outside of the EU will still be given the right to work in the UK.
It has been a better week for relief chefs out with 15 so far for the week and 36 chefs out in total.
Hopefully this will continue to rise 😊
We have 3 permanent chefs placed so far this week with another offer
Adverts have been steady, we have 123 permanent / seasonal jobs currently on our website.
We are happy to meet chefs to discuss permanent or relief work here in Moffat, just get in touch to check our availability.
Here are some chefs we have out just now
Kirsty Hamilton is working today at Croft View Care Home
Martin Ewart is at Eden Court for a 4 week period starting today
Chris Wright is away to work at The Waterside Inn in Peterhead
Glenn Richards is at the Woodpecker in Lanark for this weekend
Ally Elder is at Balcary Bay Hotel
Allan Rennie is at The Red Lion in Forres
Glyn Musker is up in Perthshire at Inn on the Tay
Pat Johnstone is at Craigmonie Hotel in Inverness
Thanks to ALL our relief chefs for your patience, hard work and support we really do appreciate it 😊
Under new laws, the minimum salary for those who wish to work in the UK has changed. There will no longer be free movement and a stricter policy will be brought in to allow only ‘skilled’ workers into the UK to work. A points-based system will be brought into place and will be calculated on several things; qualifications, current salary, and their ability to speak English for example. A minimum number of 70 points must be achieved for those who wish to gain access to the UK.
The minimum salary for those wishing to gain entry to the UK is £25,600 per annum. However, this can be ‘traded’ for a lower salary if your job is a ‘shortage occupation’. For example, there is a large shortage of nurses currently in the UK and the government is stating that nurses on £22,000 per annum will be allowed access to the UK as we are in desperate need for nurses with the NHS under more pressure than ever. There is a shortage of chefs in the UK and we get a lot of chefs from Poland and Spain looking for work over here. It can be hard as many establishments simply cannot afford to pay the higher salaries to match what the government will require. There simply aren’t enough British chefs to go around and this will only make it harder to get chefs from other countries. What sort of impact is this going to have on our industry? Many smaller hotels in rural areas of Scotland may be in jeopardy as they are not busy enough to be able to afford the higher salaries and will solely rely on British chefs. A lot of front of house staff can be foreign too and again this can cause a shortage on the industry, especially for couples who come to work together. I do agree that skilled workers should gain access to the UK over those are ‘un-skilled’ but it can be hard to define a line between skilled and un-skilled work. This will eliminate those who simply come to the UK to not work and gain free housing, health care etc. Again, another touchy subject as more often than not these people are escaping war zones, poor living conditions etc.
What are your opinions on this? Is our industry, or even the whole of the UK, in serious trouble?
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