Monday 30th September The month draws to a close and we remain fairly busy, 41 relief chefs out working as of Saturday for whom we are still charging for, many more that we have stopped after the allotted 8 weeks. It is good to see more competition in the world of Scottish chef recruitment, hopefully there will still be a few guys on the tools out there now that we are all mostly internet savvy and big brother is watching us all as we watch out in return. October I expect relief work to remain quite steady for the next four weeks, judging against previous years and good chefs well known to us can expect to be kept busy. We still have a good amount of permanent positions for head, sous and junior chefs. Scott Hilton is looking after the junior positions, a good name for a chef recruiter, although is background was studying at Perth, music production. Johanna is on holiday for a couple of weeks, so Scott and myself are manning the office. We will be recruiting over the winter for a number 2, Operations Manager. The Special projects Director is working on job specifications with me this week and we will be advertising soon. The job will be based at our offices here in Moffat and may allow me more time to interview in the major Scottish cities. Hopefully, there will be sufficient work for us to become four in the office. Out and About Number 1, Paul Waters, himself has finished up at the Burnett Arms over in Banchory and has had an excellent summer, as usual, many thanks Paul. 13 and a half years is a long time. Everyone was glad to know that Billy Gibson is alive and well on Shetland after giving us all a few moments of concern. There are a few new names on our books. Neil Hawthorne up working at The Torridon and an excellent reference came back from a large hotel in Ayrshire which I will not name (company policy) but thanks for the Executive Chef for taking the time, much appreciated. Mark Murray has completed a few jobs via us now, some ten years after we used to organise Ping and others to head down or up to Ballachulish. Currently up at the Classroom with Chefs In Scotland stalwart Will Furlong; wouldn’t it be nice if he became Sir William Furlong, a knighthood for a career spent working hard in Scottish kitchens whilst bringing up a family cannot have been easy. Many thanks Will. Rosie Robertson continues to do occasional week-ends at the Waterside in Peterhead, our resident Superstar, will have to give her a call for a blether. Please excuse that there have been no writings since returning from holiday in Spain. Unfortunately, my beloved Berry, the six year old Jack Russell and my best friend, was killed by a car or possibly a lorry late on Thursday the 19th of September. It knocked the stuffing out of me and I have been fortunate to have the work here to keep busy with. She was a great wee dog and is missed. OK, many thanks for your continued support and patience. Michael
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 12:11:21 +0000