Where to find chefs, what to pay them, whether you need an agency, and how to go from empty section to signed offer in about a week.
Hiring a chef in the UK is harder than it was ten years ago. There are fewer chefs than kitchens, the good ones have options, and most of them are not browsing general job sites.
The employers who hire well are not paying the most. They advertise in the right place, say what the job actually is, and decide quickly. This page covers all three.
You have four realistic channels, and they are not equal:
For most kitchens the right answer is a chef job board plus your network, with an agency kept for emergencies.
Set the pay before you write the advert. Rough UK figures, with London at the top of each range:
Our salary guides break these down by role, region and type of venue, and are built from live UK adverts, so they move with the market.
If you need someone this week, the rest of this page is for you. Someone has left, service is under pressure, and every shift without cover costs you in overtime, stress on the team or lost revenue.
Fast hiring is possible. The mistake most employers make is using slow channels or overcomplicating the process. This is how to move quickly and still get a solid hire.
Before getting into what works, it's worth calling out what causes delays:
Speed comes from removing friction, not adding more steps.
Most chef job ads are vague. That slows everything down.
If a candidate has to guess what the role involves, they won't apply — especially in a market where they have options.
Focus on clarity:
If it's an urgent hire, say it clearly: "Immediate start available", "Hiring this week". That alone can increase response speed.
If you're trying to hire quickly, relevance matters more than reach.
Posting on a chef-specific platform like Only Chefs means:
Compare that to general platforms like Indeed: higher volume, lower relevance, more admin. Or premium platforms like The Caterer: good candidates, but slower and more expensive.
If speed is the priority, go where chefs already are and apply directly.
Don't rely on one channel. A fast setup looks like:
This can all be done in under an hour and massively increases your chances of getting responses within 24–48 hours.
This is the most overlooked step. Before you wait for applications, ask:
A simple message like "We need a CDP ASAP, anyone good looking?" will often get you leads faster than any job board.
If you want to hire quickly, your process needs to match. Avoid:
A fast, effective approach:
Good candidates won't wait around.
Speed is directly linked to attractiveness. If your role is under market rate, has poor hours, or is vague or unclear, it will sit open longer.
You don't always need to be the highest payer, but you do need to be realistic for your area and role.
If you're under real pressure, it's often worth separating immediate cover from the permanent hire. Options include:
It costs more short-term but buys you time to make a better permanent hire.
With the right setup, a typical timeline:
Miss any of those steps, and it can easily stretch into weeks.
Speed comes from momentum.
If you want the simplest approach:
That combination covers both reach and relevance.
If you need to fill a role now: post your job in minutes, reach chefs directly, and start getting applications fast.
Post a Chef Job — free to start