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Trying to place a chef in Tarbert, Isle of Harris

I started working for Chefs In Scotland in February this year and have been undertaking a wide variety of work in the 3 months I have been with the company. My name is Alannah Morrison and I am from Borrisdale on the Isle of Harris. I first moved to Moffat in 2012 before heading back home to Harris for 6 months for the winter months.

Moving from an island to the mainland does make you realise the differences between where I grew up to where I am now living. Moffat is a small town, just off the motorway and hidden away yet it is so central to go anywhere you want. The Isle of Harris on the other hand is again hidden away, remote and a lot of coastline and beaches. I would definitely say that anybody who has an opportunity to go and work in Harris is very lucky.

In the time I have been with Chefs In Scotland I have been getting training on adverts, permanent and relief chef placements and generally being shown the ins and outs of how chef recruitment works. Last week a hotel in Harris got in touch looking for us to look for a permanent Sous chef to join their team, which Jessica and Johanna in the office then passed on to me which gave me my first opportunity to have a search for my first possible permanent chef placement.

I first put my pin in the map on the wall; I then wrote down the name of the establishment in my daily book and began my search for any good candidates. I used our database of permanent chefs to first search for any sous chefs that were happy to be placed anywhere and then secondly the ones that had availability marked as yes. This search resulted in 6 candidates that we had actively available on our database.

I searched through the names and also the comments on previous jobs they had done, the grading we at Chefs In Scotland had given them as well as what previous references we had on them. This search resulted in my finding a candidate who was new to Chefs In Scotland who had applied for a position in Orkney and who I had taken 2 excellent references for once he had applied.

I phoned the candidate to let them know about the position and asked would they like to be put over for which they said yes to. I sent his CV over to the hotel along with the references I had for him. I then marked this down in the CV sent book and waited on the hotel to reply. The hotel replied later on that afternoon that they would be interested in offering him a trial and my next task was to go back to the candidate and ask would they be interested in a trial. The candidate had made a decision when I phoned that while they were interested in Harris, they would like to hold out for the Orkney job as that was their first choice and an area they would prefer to work in.

This showed me that chef recruitment is a fast paced environment and a lot of time and effort goes into finding permanent chefs. The next step for us at Chefs In Scotland is to let the establishment know that the candidate has declined and we will do our best to find someone else - then it’s back to putting that pin up in the wall to repeat the process all over again.

Jessica, our recruitment consultant found another candidate who was well suited to the job and all being well they will be heading to the beautiful Isle of Harris at the beginning of June for a month’s trial.

A career in hospitality 4th May 2016

I originally wanted to be psychologist and study business psychology at university. I was 16 when I got what I call the bug. I started my career in kitchens when I was 16 working as a kitchen porter in an Indian restaurant in Gibraltar where I went to school. I was actually over in Edinburgh at the festival celebrating my dad’s birthday when I announced to my family that I had something to tell them. That I didn’t want to study business psychology I wanted to be a chef. My family have always been very supportive of my choice which I think is really important in this industry.

The reason I call it the bug or the curse is that we shouldn’t really have an innate desire to work long hours in a hot environment with a team you will spend more time with than your family and friends to create amazing dishes and eating experiences. But that’s all I wanted to do. I felt at home in the kitchen, I still do. As a chef you almost become uncomfortable in social environments and communication can be difficult with people outside of our industry as some people just don’t get it.

Unfortunately I had to cut my chef career short due to an accident however I am lucky enough to continue my career in chef recruitment which I love as it enables me to speak to my previous work colleagues and places all over Scotland.

Being a chef isn’t an easy career but there is something to be said about the camaraderie and working as a team to get through busy services to see through to the end for the all-important sweat pint (or in my case a gin and tonic) at the end of your shift. However I do think that times are changing. Gone are the times when chefs work 60-70 hours a week for the same salary. I am not saying this doesn’t happen but chefs aren’t as prepared to do it as they used to be. When I hear people say “well, it’s the industry” it’s a phrase I find quite frustrating. No career should require you to work extra hours for free. That’s why there is more and more places paying hourly rates or overtime after 45 or 48 hours.

What are your experiences of a career in hospitality and what do you love about the job or is there anything you would change?

Availability of Chefs 2nd May 2016

Availability of Chefs in Scotland 2^nd May 2016

Availability of permanent head chefs is getting markedly tighter and whilst employers may get 2 to 4 good to decent candidates, they are unlikely to get a stream of head chef candidates.

There are more candidates in central Scotland if paying good money in excess of £28,000 and upwards.

In rural Scotland and particularly for 2AA Rosette country house hotels, we are finding it hard to get relevant candidates. Skye, Shetland islands and rural Argyll, it is proving hard to get relevant candidates despite the payment of good money.

Suggest paying £25,000 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 although as the oil price increases so the demand for chefs is increasing rapidly.

Inverness and the highlands of Scotland mainland, pay good money with good accommodation and you will get some decent candidates unless you are 2AARosette or 3AA Rosette in which case it may be a bit tight.

Head Chefs are being put off jobs that offer set wage for 5 or 6 days per week and are preferring 5 day weeks or if six paid by the day. For instance, you can look at £500 to £600 for a five day week and a further £100 to £120 for the sixth day with overtime for five days being paid pro rata at over 45 or 48 hours sanctioned by management.

I advise against offering a set wage for a seasonal job, eg £25,000 for a six month job. I suspect you will get no applicants.

Suggest wage from £25000 for a permanent position upwards will get some candidates, ideally over £28,000 and suggest paying overtime for extra days and for hours worked over 45 / 48 sanctioned by management.

We are advising offering live in also, ideally at no charge to the chef.

Ideally this will get candidates with verifiable work histories and often well known to Chefs In Scotland. Below quality will be hit or miss.

3AA Rosette head chefs (suggest £35,000 to £45,000) can be scarce, some 2AA (suggest £27,000 to £35,000) and happy to look.

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

We are happy to meet chefs to discuss at our interview room here in Moffat and also hoteliers and restaurateurs.

Availability of chefs at sous chef, chef de partie and commis chef level. Also relief chefs.

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, Stirling can try live-out.

More rural availability including Aberdeen is becoming difficult, there are some candidates about but this is getting tighter as we are now getting into the season.

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 £11 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 45 or 48 hours.

We also suggest thinking of more innovative ideas with regards to time off for example 4 days on 3 off or 1 weekend off a month.

Chef de parties

Availability currently good in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perthshire and central belt.

Availability is becoming tighter in rural Scotland even if offering accommodation.

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

There do seem to be issues with staff retention in rural Scotland and we are happy to give advice to hoteliers and meet them to discuss at our offices in Moffat.

£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. Suggest £15,000 live in or out. Or minimum wage. Which is currently £6.70 per hour for those over 25 going up to £7.20 in April. Age 18 to 20 the minimum wage will still be £5.30 per hour.

Pastry a few available happy to have a look

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

Relief

Currently tight with a queue of jobs, although can change daily but we update our database on a daily basis and very happy to look if you are paid up to date with us.

Happy to advertise all positions or us to look with Fee of interest

.

For sous and below can look and advertise. Fee of interest deducted from finders fee.

newspage

Newspage 26^th April 2016

The year moves on and it seems like ten minutes since I drove back from the Costa del Sol accompanied by Bentley the Basset hound just before Christmas last year. The weather in south of Scotland was cold then and it still remains cold now with little hints of snow speckling the April air.

Almost four months of the year have passed and we have had a busy and productive time at our offices in Moffat.

We have met and interviewed many chefs who have had a cup of tea and coffee and a chat and shown our offices. Most leave with a CIS pen and business cards for the three of us and hopefully a good idea of the work that we do here.

Relief Work

Relief work has hit a little bit of a lull this week after a very busy 27 relief jobs out last week and a smattering of 3 jobs out on Saturday past. We are open on Saturdays 9am to 1pm. We do not have an out of hours service but mainly we are open Monday to Friday 9am to 6.30pm. Substantially more than the Bank of Scotland or The Royal Bank of Scotland are open and we do open on Bank holidays also, either a half day or a full day.

In my opinion, Bank Holidays should be a thing of the past, obsolete as they are a hindrance to us who work in the many small businesses that abound in Scotland. The 8 public holidays have been incorporated by the government into statutory holiday requirements so what purpose being shut on Monday the 2^nd of May other than do give those who work for public bodies and those who work for banks another day off. I would be very interested to know if the banks in India shut on random days throughout the year, or China? Perhaps they do.

We spend quite a bit of time tidying up the relief files and shredding the details of those who are no longer with us. This left a list of 94 files for those who are currently out working with us. We will be up to 100 shortly. 239 relief jobs out for the year at an average of 16 per week which has risen greatly from January. Our success rate for relief jobs that start is over 90% and reflects well on the excellent chefs out working such as Stuart MacColl who is pretty much the standard that we all aspire to. Johanna the relief chef manageress is adding Alan Baird and Alan Jack to that list of grade 1 relief chefs.

Adverts

310 adverts so far this year, again at an average of 16 with a high of 30 adverts in one week. Many chefs are using our CIS for chefs feature whereby you can register and get jobs sent directly to you. There is no other fee when a chef takes a job via the advert. We are very up front about the fees that we charge and they can be found on the front page of our website.

Perm placements

We have 45 permanent placements standing as of today. Permanent placements are harder to make and have a lower success rate than relief jobs.

Probably the pinnacle of our working year has been placing six chefs at Gleneagles Hotel on permanent basis. They are charged the same as any other hotelier. £200 for commis chef and £400 for chef de partie with an appropriate fee of interest of £50 and £75 respectively. Plus VAT.

Moffat

We had a good attempt at taking over the Mercury Hotel in Moffat which I worked in as a kitchen porter / general assistant in 1988 as a fresh faced graduate with a good head of hair. We would have enjoyed trying to help to stop the decline of the town centre which now has many empty buildings boarded up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, for now. Lack of interest from Dumfries & Galloway Council and sadly the people of Moffat meant, I knocked that idea on the head.

I moved out of our main office Sunnybrae last October and now stay in a flat in the village, allowing the business to grow if it can. There is plenty of space and we now have longer opening hours and Allanah from Harris who works on our time off and does the accounts on a Sunday.

Hopefully, we can continue to do well for some time to come and with Johanna Watson into her seventh year and Jessica Huntley finishing her first full year here, we have a very solid and experienced base with which to work from.

We would love to see some more hoteliers and restaurateurs come to meet to discuss chef recruitment and chef retention, which we surely know a little bit about after almost 18 years trying to place chefs.

Many thanks for your continued support and patience

Michael in Moffat