Hospitality firms facing shortage of chefs

SPECIALIST JOB FAIRS SEEK TO TACKLE PROBLEM

- WILLIAM TELFORD

It’s not so much a case of too many cooks as one of not enough chefs with Plymouth hospitality companies struggling to recruit staff. Three leading employers have been involved in special recruitment events in the city as they try to fill front-of-house and, particularly, kitchen staff positions.

The Hoe’s Grosvenor Plymouth hotel, the Premier Inn chain, which has four city hotels, and Saltash’s burger and burrito joint Foreign Muck have all been involved in sector-based work academy events at Devonport Jobcentre. These are used to train people for certain sectors, and often to fill care and security jobs, but have even been used to fill coffee shop vacancies.