Edinburgh's season runs from mid-November to the new year, with Hogmanay at the end of it. We supply bar, waiting and event staff on one published festive rate, and tell you within two hours who is coming and from where.
Edinburgh's festive season is long and ends on its biggest night. From mid-November the Christmas market and fair fill Princes Street Gardens, and the city's hotels, New Town function rooms and restaurants run office parties and private dinners through to Christmas Eve. Then the city turns to Hogmanay, when every venue in the centre wants people at once.
Scotland also has its own holidays. The 2 January bank holiday falls on a Saturday in 2027, so the substitute day is Monday 4 January. That is outside our festive window, so it carries the standard bank holiday uplift instead.
Salt Social People is an English company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, about ninety minutes from Edinburgh Waverley by train. We will not pretend to have a large local bench today. For most Edinburgh bookings, some or all of the team will be our travelling core team, with rail and hotel shown at cost on their own lines, alongside any Edinburgh-based people we have taken on. A run of December dates suits that model well.
Lothian runs night buses across the city, and the tram runs until late but not all night. For late finishes we write the finish time and the route home into the brief. For our travelling team, the hotel is booked close to the venue and shown at cost, so nobody is chasing a last train to Newcastle at midnight.
On Hogmanay, parts of the city centre are closed or ticketed. If your venue is inside the area, we plan access routes and passes with you well before the night.
A plated Christmas dinner and ceilidh in a New Town function room, 100 guests.
| Who and how long | Line |
|---|---|
| Waiting staff, Core8 × 7 hours × £28.00 | £1,568.00 |
| Bar staff, Core2 × 7 hours × £28.00 | £392.00 |
| Lead, runs the room1 × 7 hours × £37.00 | £259.00 |
| Staff line, ex VAT11 people. VAT added at the standard rate. | £2,219.00 |
| Contingency, 20%Charged only if the night runs long. Unused, never charged. | £443.80 |
A ceilidh after dinner means the room is cleared and reset fast, so the waiting team stays on for the turnaround. If the team travels from Newcastle, rail, hotel and £20 a day meals are shown on separate lines at cost. Festive rates: Core £28.00, Skilled £31.00, Lead £37.00. If the night comes in under the quoted total, we refund 5%. New clients also get one person for one four-hour shift free on their first booking.
Want your own numbers? Use the instant estimate on our rate card or send the brief for a written quote within 60 minutes.
Festive rates for Edinburgh, per hour, excluding VAT, 1 December to 2 January. No regional uplift. What we pay is shown next to what you pay.
| Tier | We pay them | You pay us |
|---|---|---|
| CoreBar staff, waiting, runners, kitchen porters, event crew, stewards, cloakroom, admissions | £16.00 + 12.07% holiday | £28.00 |
| SkilledCocktail bartenders, baristas, fine-dining and box waiters, hosts, brand ambassadors, team leaders | £18.50 + holiday | £31.00 |
| LeadSupervisors, event managers, chefs de partie | £22.00 + holiday | £37.00 |
| Senior chefSous chefs, head chefs | £26.00 + holiday | £43.00 |
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.
From 1 December to 2 January, Core staff are £28.00 an hour ex VAT, Skilled £31.00, Leads £37.00 and senior chefs £43.00. Travel and hotel for any travelling team are shown at cost on their own lines.
Yes, at the New Year's Eve rate: Core £31.00, Skilled £34.00, Lead £40.00 an hour ex VAT. Book it with your December dates so the same team works it, and we plan access around city-centre closures.
Our Edinburgh bench is small today, and we will not pretend otherwise. Most bookings include our travelling team from Newcastle, ninety minutes away. We confirm within two hours who is coming and what travel adds.
Christmas Day, the Boxing Day substitute on 28 December and New Year's Day are inside the festive window, so you pay the festive rate. The 2 January substitute on Monday 4 January 2027 is outside it, so the standard bank holiday uplift of £3.00 applies.
Yes. One hotel booking covers several shifts, so travel costs per shift fall, and the same people learn your venue once.
See the whole rate card, start a full quote, or download the Christmas party staffing checklist (PDF). Looking for shifts yourself? Work with us.
When to book, how many people you need, and what to brief. One printable PDF.
One email with the PDF. No newsletter unless you ask. Unsubscribe any time.
If it did not open, download it here.
We will reply within 60 minutes between 8am and 8pm, or first thing tomorrow. Want it faster? Message us on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp usYour 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.