Chefs who can pick up a spec, work your menu to your allergen matrix and keep the pass calm, with kitchen porters behind them. Hand-picked, briefed before the shift and paid properly, on a published hourly rate.
We supply chefs to cook your menu, in your kitchen or your event kitchen, with your ingredients and equipment. A chef de partie runs a section: prep, mise en place, cooking and plating to your spec. A sous chef runs the service alongside your head chef or in their absence. A head chef can take charge of an event kitchen end to end, from the prep list to the last plate.
Kitchen porters keep the kitchen working: washing up, pot wash, keeping the floor and surfaces clean and safe, moving deliveries and helping with basic prep when asked. On a banqueting job, a good KP team is the difference between a calm pass and a stalled one.
Kitchen porters are Core tier at £25.00 an hour ex VAT. Chefs de partie are Lead tier at £34.00. Sous chefs and head chefs are Senior chef tier at £40.00. We do not write or cost menus as part of the hourly rate. If you need menu development, tell us and we will quote it separately.
Every person on our books has been interviewed by us, has had two references checked, has passed a right-to-work check before their first shift and has worked a paid trial shift alongside a senior member of our team. Anyone handling food or drink holds Level 2 food safety and allergen awareness, paid for by us. Supervisors hold Level 3.
For kitchen roles we ask for kitchen references specifically, and the trial shift is in a working kitchen. We only place a chef at a tier they have shown us, and we check food safety certificates are in date before every booking.
They are our people, engaged on PAYE zero-hours terms, and they choose which shifts to accept. So the person who turns up wanted the shift. They are paid every Friday, from £14.00 an hour plus holiday, and they are paid for the hours booked even if you send them home early.
Every person is briefed twice before your event: once in writing 48 hours out, with the venue, door, transport, uniform, service style, allergens and your on-site contact, and once by phone three hours before start. They photo check-in on arrival. If anyone is not right, tell us in the first hour and there is no charge for them.
If you want to work these shifts yourself, see how we take people on.
These are starting points we use when we build a quote. They are general guidance, not a rule. The menu, how much is prepped in advance, the kitchen layout and the service style all change the number. Tell us the menu and we will tell you honestly how few people the job needs.
| Service | Guidance only |
|---|---|
| Plated banquetThree courses, prepped in advance | 1 chef per 40 to 60 covers |
| Plated, cooked to orderMore à la minute work | 1 chef per 25 to 40 covers |
| CanapésStanding reception | 1 chef per 75 to 100 guests |
| Kitchen portersBanqueting pot wash and plates | 1 per 50 to 75 covers |
| Sous or head chefRunning an event kitchen | 1 per kitchen |
Chefs de partie, sous chefs, head chefs and kitchen porters are charged at the national rate everywhere outside the M25. The only uplifts we apply are for London, the festive period, bank holidays and New Year's Eve, and they are printed below.
| Tier | We pay them | You pay us |
|---|---|---|
| CoreBar staff, waiting, runners, kitchen porters, event crew, stewards, cloakroom, admissions | £14.00 + 12.07% holiday | £25.00 |
| SkilledCocktail bartenders, baristas, fine-dining and box waiters, hosts, brand ambassadors, team leaders | £16.50 + holiday | £28.00 |
| LeadSupervisors, event managers, chefs de partie | £20.00 + holiday | £34.00 |
| Senior chefSous chefs, head chefs | £24.00 + holiday | £40.00 |
Every client booking carries the same five guarantees, written into our terms of business.
Written, itemised, ex VAT, 8am to 8pm every day. Three hours outside that.
Your account manager's mobile is on the booking confirmation, answered on any day we have people working.
Anyone not right? Tell us in the first hour. No charge for them and a replacement on the way.
New clients get one person for one four-hour shift free on their first booking. See what you are buying.
Names confirmed within two hours of booking. If we cannot fill a position we say so at booking, never on the day.
Most chefs prefer to work with their own knives, and we confirm it on the brief. The kitchen, equipment and ingredients come from you or your caterer.
Level 2 food safety and allergen awareness as a minimum. Anyone supervising a kitchen holds Level 3. We check certificates are in date before each booking.
Yes. A head or sous chef, chefs de partie and kitchen porters, built around your menu and cover numbers. We tell you at booking if any position cannot be filled, never on the day.
Our hourly rate covers cooking your menu. Menu development and costing are not included, and if you need them we quote them separately.
Four hours per person per shift, including kitchen porters. There is no minimum number of people.
See the whole rate card and the instant estimate, or start a full quote. Looking for shifts yourself? Work with us.
Your brief lands with Tasmyn or Liam, not a queue. A written quote within 60 minutes (8am to 8pm) and a call if anything needs clarifying. A named mobile is given to every client at booking.
Every person paid through our PAYE payroll, so you carry no status risk. Right-to-work checks before day one. Employers' Liability £10m, Public Liability £10m. Certificates with your first confirmation.
Keep them. Use us for the shifts they cannot fill, or the ones that matter most. Overflow is where most first clients start.
Short on people for a big weekend? We supply overflow to other agencies on the same published terms.