December is the hardest month of the year to find good hospitality staff, and the dates everyone wants all land in the same three weeks. This is the checklist we would use if we were booking for you.
List every date you need cover for, including the Fridays and Saturdays you think you can manage without. Share them with your staffing supplier now with rough numbers, even if the menus are not final. Names are easier to hold in October than in December.
Decide the service style for each date, because it sets the team size: plated needs roughly one waiting staff member for every 10 to 12 guests, buffets and sharing need fewer, bars need one for every 50 to 75 guests at peak. Agree who runs the team on the night and whether you need a Lead. See our ratio guide.
Send the venue plan, arrival door, uniform, menus with allergens, drinks list and prices, and the name of the person in charge on the night. Confirm age verification policy for the bar, usually Challenge 25. Ask for the names of everyone coming.
Walk the team round the room before doors. Show the fire exits, the bins, the glass wash and where spare stock lives. If anyone is not right for the job, say so in the first hour. With us, that person is replaced at no charge.
Tell your supplier who was excellent so you can ask for them by name next year. Pay attention to how quickly invoices, timesheets and any contingency are settled, because that is how you know who to book again.
Ready to book? Our Christmas 2026 page has dates and rates, or send your dates for a written quote within 60 minutes.
October is ideal and early November is fine. From mid November the most popular Friday and Saturday dates get harder to fill with people you would choose.
With us, dates from 1 December to 2 January and bank holidays carry a £3.00 an hour uplift, and New Year's Eve carries £6.00. There is no other surge pricing.
Venue plan, arrival door, uniform, menus with allergens, drinks list and prices, age verification policy and the name of your contact on the night.
Tell us in the first hour and we replace them at no charge.
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.