Cooks4schools is a specialist recruitment agency that understands the school meals industry and aims to help caterers to solve the problem of finding quality, lead cooks.
“We set out to bring new blood to school catering, but I had not anticipated the high levels of enthusiasm and professionalism we are finding. Our cooks are doing the job because they believe that feeding children is important, and that catering is a career to be proud of.
“Their positive attitude rubs off on kitchen staff, teachers - even the children themselves. I am extremely proud of the work our cooks have achieved, and very excited to hear what a difference they are
making.”
Adam Starkey, Managing Director, cooks4schools
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Cooks4schools...
- Finds cooks when you can't
- Operates nationwide
- Recruits as many men as women
- Is a permanent solution, not a temp agency
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'We’d tried everything to recruit the cooks we
needed, but it seemed there just weren’t
enough out there. We challenged Cooks4Schools
to find some – they have found suitable
experienced cooks as we required’
Kathleen Jones
Solihull Catering Services
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How we work
Local authorities provide a basic salary, with a benefit package that can cost as much as the salary. Cooks4Schools offers a much higher basic salary, without benefits. This appeals to different groups of people.
Do YOU need cooks4schools?
• Are you concerned about falling standards?
• Are your meal numbers down?
• Do you need to free up your peripatetic cooks to do training and supervision,
instead of just filling in for cooks who are off sick?
• Is your area manager spending too much time finding and recruiting new cooks?
• Could you use a team of senior cooks who can act as troubleshooters?
What qualifications and skills do our cooks have?
All have Basic Food and Hygiene, plus Level 2 NVQ in Catering - many have additional qualifications, such as City & Guilds in
catering.
Can they supervise your in-house staff?
Yes - we only recruit experienced professionals who have supervised staff and can run a kitchen. They will implement your policies and procedures, according to the training you provide.
What about on the job training?
Our cooks will come to you fully trained, but we would expect the LEA to carry out induction training. In the unlikely event that
the candidate does not meet the required standard at this stage, we will reimburse your training costs.
What is the process?
• You tell us what staff you need
• We advertise in your local media
• We interview applicants (with your representative present, if you wish)
• You select from our short list
• We carry out medical clearance and police clearance
• You provide one week’s training
• You allocate staff to schools
• We both regularly review any placement
Whats the next step?
To find out more without any obligation, please call Nigel Roe on 01453 755837, or email on nroe@greengourmet.co.uk.