The hospitality industry: UK trends in recruitment, evolving job profiles, salaries, training & jobs in demand

What is the hospitality industry ?

The UK hospitality industry, including restaurants, hotels, hotel food & beverage (F&B) operations, pubs, cafes, takeaways, and other dining establishments, is enormous, dynamic, and facing new challenges during this period of rising inflation rates, and the ongoing cost of living crisis.

In July 2021, the sector included around 143,000 businesses, employing 1.8 million people, and generated £40.4 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA), according to a government report.

Interest rates and increasing rents are hurting the industry. Energy prices are reducing (slightly; prices are higher than in 2020-21), and food is once again getting cheaper. However, the overall mood in the industry is that this is still a more difficult period than during the pandemic. Staff are harder to find than ever before. Because customers have less disposable income, many are cutting back on leisure spending. Restaurant and pub owners and operators are limited by what costs they can pass onto customers for fear of losing them.

Despite inflationary and interest rate pressures, consumer spending trackers from Deloitte and Barclays show that patrons were still spending in restaurants, pubs, and other leisure facilities throughout 2023. Some months were better than others.

Bank holidays were buoyant, warmer weather in summer encouraged people to go out, and more people stayed in the UK for summer instead of going abroad. The hospitality industry is hopeful these trends will continue into the traditionally busy winter and Christmas period.

One of the main challenges is finding staff. Let’s take a closer look at that and the most popular and vital UK hospitality industry job roles that owners and operators are recruiting for right now.

‍Current recruitment trends in hospitality and restaurants

As hospitality and restaurant owners and operators know, recruitment in this sector has been challenging in recent years. First Brexit, and then the Covid-19 pandemic made recruitment and retaining staff for every position significantly more difficult than it used to be.

Wages have increased. Staff are harder to find and recruit, even in big cities such as London and Birmingham.

In May 2022, there were 180,000 vacancies, compared to the previous peak just before the pandemic hit in February 2020, when there were 166,000 vacancies. Vacancies have been dropping since, reducing supply-side pressures for the industry, and are currently below 120,000. However, that’s still double the number of vacancies that the industry was used to before Brexit.

One gastropub owner in Bournemouth said in a Guardian interview, “We struggle to find one new chef when one leaves, we couldn’t face trying to find five new chefs for a new bar. We’ve had to put wages up by 10%, to retain staff.”

He said chefs are “almost impossible to find.”

Another restaurant owner said: “The cost of living crisis seems to now bite even our high-income customers. But there is also a limit to what you can do with a small workforce. I’ve now taken over the head chef position to make some savings. Our previous head chef was on £50k.”

For waiters, waitresses, and bar staff, tips were an important part of earnings. Before the cost of living crisis, tips were £4 an hour, on average. Now they’re £2 an hour, and for staff on relatively low incomes in cities with high rents, it makes working in the industry a lot less appealing than it was a few years ago.

Despite industry leaders and associations calling for more government support, similar to the support it received during the pandemic, none has been forthcoming, and nor is any likely at present.  

The hospitality industry needs innovative solutions to these staffing and recruitment challenges - one of those is greater flexibility. Hiring self-employed, flexible workers at every level and for every job role could be the answer the industry needs to fill vacancies and retain those (self-employed) staff. Let’s take a closer look at how that works, and why Brigad is the solution you’ve been looking for.

Shortage of Staff in the Hospitality and Restaurant Sector

Staff shortages aren’t as bad as they were at the peak of the hospitality recruitment crisis of May 2020, with 180,000 vacancies across the UK. But they are still double pre-Brexit and pre-Pandemic levels, currently around 120,000.

Unless a new government relaxes restrictions on workers from Europe and Eastern Europe, the industry needs to find, recruit, and retain staff here, in the UK. Inflation, rising interest rates, and rents are amongst some of the main reasons people can’t afford to work in the industry. Other challenges that prevent people from applying for jobs in the sector include long hours, unsociable hours, and a poor work-life balance.

Restaurant and pub staff are difficult to find, and sous chefs, chef de parties, and chefs are almost impossible to find. Owners and operators are putting wages up in an attempt to fill vacancies.

One solution to this is to find and employ independent workers, also known as self-employed staff, with the promise of more flexibility and wages that account for the fact that anyone self-employed is responsible for their own taxes and national insurance (NI).

Restaurant, pub, and hotel F&B owners and operators could afford to pay independent workers more than salaried (Pay As You Earn) staff, with greater flexibility for both parties, whilst making a net cost saving.  

Next, let’s take a closer look at Brigad’s solution for UK hospitality industry owners and operators searching for staff and ways to save costs during this challenging time.

Brigad's Solution to Quickly Find Qualified Staff

How to use Brigad to find qualified staff ?

✅ To start, you just login on the app or website; it’s free to sign up and takes 2 minutes. You choose the dates you need, the times you need, and the positions you need to fill.

✅ Then, our algorithm will send your mission to the most qualified professionals of the community within your area. Once one of them accepts, you’ll be notified and directly connected with them.

✅ Contract, invoicing and payment between you and the professionals are automatically generated: everything is taken care of so you can focus on your business.

Advantages of Collaborating with Brigad for Establishments

💪 Rigorous Selection Process by Specialised Teams: The freelancers who use Brigad undergo a stringent vetting procedure, ensuring that the talents you connect with are not only suited to your specific requirements but  have also been thoroughly evaluated and verified by our expert teams.

💪 Exclusively Freelance Professionals: The individuals in our network represent their own interests, guaranteeing a high level of reliability and motivation. This approach significantly reduces the likelihood of negative experiences.

💪 User-Friendly Interface: The process to initiate a mission is exceptionally straightforward and can be completed in under three minutes. Our algorithm connects you to a vetted and qualified professional who is both available and interested in your offer, eliminating the need to sift through numerous profiles.

💪 Personalised Support and Responsive Assistance Team: A dedicated representative will guide you through the initial month of using our platform, ensuring a smooth transition. Additionally, our Assistance team is at your service seven days a week, guaranteeing prompt solutions to any challenges that may arise.

💪 Streamlined and Efficient Operations: The process of posting a mission is swift and efficient, taking less than three minutes. Our platform also allows the creation of a list of favourite talents for easy re-engagement. Furthermore, invoicing and payments are handled automatically, enabling you to concentrate on your core business activities.

Advantages for Self-Employed Professionals in using Brigad

💪 Achieve Optimal Work-Life Balance: As a self-employed professional collaborating with Brigad, you gain the liberty to select your assignments. This flexibility empowers you to tailor your work schedule to align with your personal commitments and professional aspirations.

💪 Enhanced Earning Potential: Work found through Brigad are typically more remunerative, ensuring every hour worked is appropriately compensated. Additionally, as a self-employed individual, you have the autonomy to work additional hours across various enterprises, further augmenting your income.

💪 Opportunities for Growth and Networking: Working with Brigad offers the chance to engage in diverse missions and collaborate with different businesses. This variety not only facilitates professional development and learning but also provides avenues to meet new people, helping you break free from monotony and feel more valued and acknowledged in your profession.

💪 Prompt and Regular Payment: Brigad ensures a seamless financial experience by facilitating automatic weekly payments, eliminating the need to wait until month-end for remuneration. This approach provides consistent financial support and simplifies the payment process for self-employed professionals.

Evolving Staffing Profiles Sought by Employers

Because of the staffing and recruiting headwinds in this sector, employers are seeking evolving staff profiles.

Here are some of the skills and qualities that are becoming more valuable for employers in this sector when advertising and recruiting for vacant positions:

✅ Versatility and Flexibility are Crucial. Restaurants, pubs, cafes, and even hotel F&B operations might need to change opening hours, service offerings, and menus at short notice. It’s better for owners and operators to have a team who can adapt at short notice too, if changes are needed, making flexible, independent workers more of an asset than staff on fixed hours and contracts.  

✅ Communication and Customer Service Skills. The customer has always been king in this sector. That’s even more important these days. Unhappy customers tell their friends and family. Bad reviews can be addressed delicately on review sites, but unhappy customers also tell others on social media and messaging platforms, where restaurants can’t necessarily counteract a complaint. Customer service skills are crucial, and to help boost bookings and revenue, it’s also useful if staff can create content and post it on social media.  

✅ Adaptability to New Technologies. As the hospitality industry evolves, new technologies play an increasingly important role in kitchens, behind bars, and for front-of-house operations. It’s useful that staff are skilled at using new software as required, so they can help your business adapt to a changing environment.

✅ Knowledge of Nutrition, Changing Diets, and Allergies. Staff need to have recent training and qualifications, or training on the job, on changing consumer nutrition trends, diets, and allergies. Allergy awareness is crucial, especially in kitchens, so ensure anyone you recruit is fully aware of how to ask patrons about allergies and put any safeguards into practice in the kitchen, behind the bar, and when handling plates.

✅ Sustainability Awareness. Customers these days are more eco and sustainability-aware, and the hospitality industry needs to do more to reduce its carbon footprint. Make sure staff are equally eco and sustainability-aware and take active steps to support a business's sustainability goals and actions being taken.

✅ Management and Leadership Abilities. Because of staff shortages, it’s worth spotting early on those with leadership and management potential when recruiting. Retaining ambitious staff and supporting them with training and career progression will help ensure talented hospitality staff stay in the industry and train new recruits, further improving the service an establishment provides.

Jobs In Demand In the Hospitality Industry

Across thousands of restaurants, pubs, catering kitchens, cafes, and hotel food & beverage operations (F&B), there are dozens of different hospitality jobs in high demand in London, Birmingham, and other UK towns, cities, and counties.

Here are 16 of the most important and high-demand jobs across the UK hospitality industry.

✅ Head Chef: a Head Chef is the culinary leader responsible for overseeing kitchen operations in a restaurant, hotel, or catering service. Except in larger operations, a head chef is at the top of the kitchen management food chain and rarely does any cooking because of management, staffing, and budgetary responsibilities.

✅ Sous Chef: a Sous Chef plays a vital role in any professional kitchen team and is responsible for taking a more hands-on, managerial, and cooking role under the Head Chef.

✅ Chef de Partie: Chef de Parties are practicing chefs or cooks whilst also being responsible for the chefs or cooks working in their line or section of the kitchen to ensure that everything cooked is prepared to the highest standards whilst managing quality control and day-to-day kitchen hygiene.

✅ Line Cook (or demi chef de partie): Line Cooks take one of the most hands-on cooking roles in a kitchen. Other kitchen team members will probably prepare specific ingredients, but it’s the line cook who is responsible for cooking a range of dishes.

✅ Pizzaiolo: a Pizzaiolo, or Chef Pizzaiolo, is the traditional Italian name for Pizza Chef, Pizza Cook, or Pizza Maker. They are responsible for every aspect of making pizzas in a restaurant, hotel, takeaway, or catering service.

✅ Pastry Chef: Aa pastry chef is a skilled culinary professional employed to cook pastries, such as cakes, croissants, and even pies and savoury foods in certain establishments. You might also work as a pastry chef in an industrial kitchen, as many dining establishments order sweet and savoury pastries in bulk.

✅ Sushi Chef: Sushi chefs are masters of Japanese culinary arts and techniques. Sushi is very popular in the UK, especially in busy, cosmopolitan, multicultural cities such as London and Birmingham. A sushi chef specialises in preparing high-quality and delicious sushi dishes according to traditional and modern Japanese recipes.

✅ Kitchen Porter: the Kitchen porter role isso important for keeping kitchens clean and tidy and ensuring high levels of hygiene are maintained for the safety of staff and guests and a dining establishment's reputation.

A low star hygiene rating can devastate a restaurant or pub's reputation, so kitchen porters are the first and last line of defence against germs in any kitchen.

✅ Restaurant Manager: a restaurant manager is also sometimes known as the Front of House, responsible for everything customer-facing in a restaurant, pub, or F&B operation in a hotel.

Head chefs or sous chefs are managers on the same level in their own right, and it’s the responsibility of both to communicate, such as customer allergies being noted down by waiters to shortages of ingredients for daily specials in the kitchen.

Restaurant managers oversee waiters and bar staff and ensure patrons have a wonderful experience from start to finish.

✅ Waiter: Waiters are absolutely essential for the smooth functioning of restaurants and any dining establishment where guests receive table service. Waiters and waitresses serve guests, take food and drink orders, serve the meals, clear plates, and tidy a cover after a guest has left and paid the bill.

Waiters report to the restaurant manager or front of house and collect drinks from the bar and meals from serving hatches in kitchens.

✅ Crew Member: a crew member, also known as a hospitality team member, is usually in a more junior role within kitchens and restaurants. Staff in this position could be apprentices, or this could be their first entry-level job, working to support and assist the kitchen staff and bar teams.

✅ Bartender: the Bartender is an essential part of the team in any bar, pub, and restaurant. Any dining establishment that serves drinks needs bartenders. Bar staff serve drinks, pick up glasses, and keep the bar tidy, and one of the team, usually the bar manager, totals up the takings (card payments and cash) at the end of the night.

The bar manager and bartenders all report to the restaurant manager or front of house.

✅ Mixologist: unlike a bartender, a mixologist is more of a specialist and is trained (either through an independent course or their employer) in how to expertly make cocktails. In some bars and restaurants, there are easy-to-follow recipes provided to bar staff so that anyone can make a cocktail.

However, for bars and restaurants who want to go the extra mile, a properly trained mixologist is skilled at making cocktails to customer tastes and even making cocktails on request that aren’t on the menu.

✅ Barback: a barback plays an important role within the bar staff team, as without them, a busy bar would soon get very messy, and there wouldn’t be enough clean glasses to serve customers. A barback also restocks drinks, beers, ciders, spirits, and bar snacks that are sold to customers.

✅ Barista: Baristas are in huge demand in coffee shops all over the country. Baristas also work in restaurants, hotels, bars, and pubs, either as specialist roles or bar staff, and even waiters are trained to make coffee.

Baristas also make other drinks, such as iced coffees and tea, although they are trained to specialise in different types of coffee (e.g., espresso, latte, cappuccino, mocha, etc.).

✅ Food production operative: Food production operatives play a vital role in the food industry, ensuring the efficient production and packaging of food items. They handle tasks from assembling ingredients to operating processing machinery and conducting quality control checks.

Reporting to the production supervisor, they work across various production line sections, including preparation, cooking, and packaging, to maintain the food supply chain. Their contributions are crucial for delivering safe, high-quality food products to consumers, restaurants, and retailers.

✅ Cloakroom attendant: Cloakroom attendants are essential in managing guest belongings at venues like theaters, restaurants, and clubs. They are responsible for safely storing coats, bags, and other personal items, issuing tickets to ensure the secure return of possessions, and assisting guests with any related queries or needs. Reporting typically to a front-of-house manager, cloakroom attendants provide an organized and courteous service, enhancing the overall guest experience by ensuring the security and accessibility of stored items throughout their visit.

✅ Catering assistant: Catering assistants are key support roles within the catering and hospitality sector, aiding in the preparation, presentation, and service of food and beverages at events, restaurants, and other dining venues.

They assist chefs with food preparation, set up dining areas, serve guests, and ensure cleanliness and organization in the kitchen and service areas. Reporting to a catering manager or head chef, catering assistants help manage inventory, handle basic cooking tasks, and provide excellent customer service, contributing significantly to the smooth operation and success of catering services.

✅ Food runner: Food runners are integral to the seamless operation of restaurants and dining establishments, bridging the kitchen and dining area. They are responsible for promptly and accurately delivering dishes from the kitchen to guests' tables, ensuring orders are complete and correctly served.

Food runners assist waitstaff by clearing tables and preparing them for new guests, enhancing the dining experience through efficient service.

Reporting typically to the restaurant manager or head waiter, they play a critical role in maintaining the pace of service and ensuring guest satisfaction by facilitating smooth communication between the kitchen and dining areas.

‍Salaries in the Hospitality, Catering, F&B, and Leisure Sector

In the hospitality sector, salaries vary according to different job roles, locations, and levels of experience. Jobs requiring experience or specific skills, such as sushi chefs, can command higher rates of pay than a line cook in a pub

Jobs with higher levels of responsibility, such as a restaurant manager, sous chef, chef de partie, head chef, and executive head chef, can also command higher salaries and rates of pay, especially in big cities such as London and Birmingham. Restaurants and hotels with certain reputations to maintain need to pay the best to recruit the best.  

Salaries can range anywhere from an hourly national living wage-based role for waiters, bar staff, and kitchen porters, up to £50,000 or more for head chefs, and even higher salaries and bonuses for executive head chefs.

Training in the Hospitality, Catering, F&B, and Leisure Sector

In the hospitality and catering industry, for some jobs, there's no need for training, while for others, there are specific courses and qualifications that professionals can take to secure jobs or progress further in their careers.

For example, you might need specialist training in sushi or pastries to become a sushi chef or pastry chef. Or, say you’ve been a chef or line cook for a number of years and want to progress, it can be useful to take a qualification in kitchen management or enhanced culinary skills so that you can apply for chef de partie, sous chef, and head chef roles.