Hospitality recruitment is set to reap the benefits of our rising expectations of pub grub.

Gastro pubs are moving out of the trendy parts of our big cities, and are set to be a success story for recruiters, claims Holly Addison, operations director for hospitality recruiter Berkeley Scott.

Addison believes punters are moving away from chains or branded venues to get quality food on their doorstep.

“There’s a big focus on high quality food in your local pub,” said Addison. “People are now seeking an experience, not just the food, when they go out to eat.”

According to Tony Aylward, operations director (hotels) for Berkeley Scott, the UK is short of skilled chefs at commis (apprentice) and chef de partie (supervisory) levels, leaving a big hole for the recruitment industry to fill.

He said: “If a bus-load of chefs de parties came to our offices, we would be able to place them in a day. In reality, if we got two a week, we’d be pleased.”

As a result, Berkeley Scott has addressed this issue by setting up two training centres in Poland and the Czech Republic to bring trained chefs to the UK market. The firm has brought across nearly 150 staff in the last six months.

Many of the eastern European workers are accepting roles below what they were doing in their native countries simply to get some experience in the UK. Aylward said: “Our clients are getting good English speakers and experienced staff keen to prove themselves.”

•Look out for our catering recruitment feature coming soon.