Restaurants are booming in Britain, but the chronic shortage of chefs and other staff is threatening the industry
It is almost impossible to turn on the television without seeing a celebrity chef putting aspiring young cooks through their paces. But leaders in the restaurant industry have warned it is in the depths of a recruitment crisis that could force some of the Britain’s top culinary establishments to close their doors.
Leading restaurateurs warn of a “dire shortage” of chefs across the industry, from chefs de partie in brassieres to sous chefs in the trendiest new London ventures.
The situation is so serious, they warn, that it threatens to put a stop to Britain’s “foodie boom” as restaurants report that hiring sufficient young kitchen talent is proving tougher than “baking a soufflé during an earthquake”.
Leading the charge is Daniel Clifford, the chef-patron of two-Michelin-starred Midsummer House in Cambridge, who told The Independent on Sunday the industry needs to act immediately or face rapid decline.
“The chef crisis is getting to the point where practically every restaurant in the UK is short of staff,” he said. “Every decent chef I know is looking for staff; they have taken to Twitter to literally beg for chefs to get in touch. This includes top chefs like Tom Kerridge and Simon Rogan. It’s affecting everyone.”….Readmore