Too few people and service stalls. Too many and you pay for people standing still. These are the ratios we use as a starting point, with the reasons behind them, so you can sense-check any quote, including ours.
Plated service: one waiting staff member for every 10 to 12 guests, so each person clears and serves one or two tables on the call. Silver service: one for every 8 to 10, because each plate is served at the table. Fine dining with wine service: one for every 6 to 8. Sharing or family style: one for every 15 to 20, because the food goes down on the table in one trip.
Add a Lead for every 10 to 15 waiting staff. They take the calls from the kitchen, keep the courses moving and deal with the table that needs something unusual.
For canapés, allow one person for every 20 to 30 guests, and more if the room is long or on two levels. For a bowl food reception, one for every 25 to 40. Somebody should be on glass collection and nothing else once the room is full, or the bar runs out of glasses before it runs out of wine.
A beer, wine and spirits bar needs one bartender for every 50 to 75 guests at peak. A cocktail menu drops that to one for every 40 to 60, because each drink takes longer. A reception with drinks carried on trays can run one bartender for every 75 to 100 guests, as long as there are floor staff doing the carrying. Every bar with tills needs someone on payment at peak, and every bar team benefits from a Lead who owns the stock and the cash-up.
Registration desks need one host for every 75 to 100 delegates arriving in the first half hour. Coffee breaks and lunches run at one person for every 30 to 50 delegates. Plenary rooms need at least one person on the doors and on the roving microphone, and breakout rooms need someone to reset them between sessions.
Ratios are a starting point. Briefed, experienced people who know the room and the menu before they arrive do more than a bigger team seeing it for the first time. That is why we brief everyone twice, once in writing 48 hours before and once by phone on the day, and why we will tell you if we think a quote, including ours, has too many people on it.
Use the cost guide to turn your team size into a budget, or send us the brief and we will size it for you within 60 minutes.
For a plated meal, about 9 or 10, plus a Lead. For silver service, 10 to 12. For sharing platters, 5 or 6.
For beer, wine and spirits, 3 or 4 at peak. For a cocktail menu, 4 or 5. Add a Lead if the bar takes payment or runs all night.
For more than 10 staff, yes. A Lead runs the team on the night so your own people can host rather than manage.
Yes. Most events need people an hour before guests arrive and an hour after they leave. Booking only guest hours is the most common reason a night feels short-staffed.
No. They are guidance. The layout of the venue, the menu and the guests all change the number, and we will tell you honestly if we think you need more or fewer.
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.