Banqueting waiters, bar staff, kitchen porters, supervisors and chefs for hotels at their busiest: wedding season, conference days and December. Hand-picked, briefed on your function sheet and your standards, and paid properly, on a published hourly rate.
Our banqueting staff work to your function sheet and your banqueting manager. They lay the room to your plan, serve the drinks reception, serve and clear each course on the call, run the function bar and turn the room round for the evening or the next day's conference. On conference days they serve arrival coffee, breaks and lunch, clear to time and reset rooms between sessions. Kitchen porters keep your pot wash and plate room moving through the banquet.
We fill gaps rather than replace your team. Most hotels use us for peaks: a wedding weekend when the rota is short, a conference that doubles the covers, the December party season, or sickness on the night. Your people keep the regular roles and our people arrive knowing the room, the menu and who they report to. For regular gaps we can send the same faces each time, so they learn your hotel once.
Banqueting waiters, bar staff, runners, room crew and kitchen porters are Core tier at £25.00 an hour ex VAT. Fine-dining waiters, cocktail bartenders, baristas and team leaders are Skilled tier at £28.00. Supervisors and chefs de partie are Lead tier at £34.00, and sous chefs and head chefs are Senior chef tier at £40.00. Our people work under your procedures, your premises licence and your manager on duty.
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 hotel work we look for banqueting, hotel bar or hotel kitchen experience at interview. The written brief includes the function sheet, your uniform and grooming standards, where staff sign in, park and change, and the name of your manager on duty. Where you have hotel inductions, fire procedures or policies you need our people to read, send them and we include them in the brief.
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 the starting points we use when we build a quote. They are general guidance, not a rule. How many of your own staff are on, the size of the room, the menu and the distance from the kitchen all change the number. Tell us the function sheet and we will tell you honestly how few extra people you need.
| Service | Guidance only |
|---|---|
| Plated banquetThree courses, standard service | 1 per 10 to 12 guests |
| Silver service banquetServed from the flat | 1 per 8 to 10 guests |
| Conference refreshmentsBreaks and buffet lunch | 1 per 30 to 50 delegates |
| Function barBeer, wine, spirits and mixers | 1 per 50 to 75 guests |
| Kitchen portersBanqueting pot wash and plates | 1 per 50 to 75 covers |
| SupervisorRunning our people with your team | 1 per 10 to 15 of our staff |
Banqueting waiters, bar staff, kitchen porters, supervisors and chefs 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.
Often, yes. Short notice never changes the price. If we cannot fill a position we say so at booking, never on the day, and names are confirmed within two hours of booking.
Yes. Tick ongoing or recurring cover on the enquiry form and we offer your dates to the same people first, so they learn your hotel once.
Yes. On your bar our people serve under your premises licence, your designated premises supervisor and your policies, including Challenge 25.
Yes. Kitchen porters are £25.00 an hour ex VAT, chefs de partie £34.00 and sous or head chefs £40.00. They cook your menu to your spec and allergen matrix.
From 1 December to 2 January every tier carries a festive uplift of £3.00 an hour, so Core banqueting staff are £28.00 ex VAT. New Year's Eve is +£6.00 instead. See our Christmas party staff page for book-by dates.
Tell us in the first hour. There is no charge for them and a replacement is on the way. That is written into our terms.
Four hours per person per shift. There is no minimum number of people, so one kitchen porter for a busy Saturday is a normal booking.
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.