Chef – 4-Day Week, Daytime Hours, No Split Shifts

Mary Rush Care Ltd; Elsrickle; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

4-day week

Daytime hours

Gratuities added to wages

Free meals on shift

Staff discount

Training day

Farm tours

Free parking

Local ingredients learning

Nearby produce

Job summary

Errington’s Barn near Biggar in South Lanarkshire is seeking an experienced Chef to join our farm café and food business. You’ll work a 4-day week, with 7am–5pm shifts and no split shifts, in a kitchen focused on seasonal, farm-to-table cooking using our own cheese, meat and produce.

You’ll help develop dishes, bake, preserve and explore butchery, keeping standards high and working closely with a small team. A genuine love of ingredients and independence are essential.

Responsibilities

• Preparing and cooking food from scratch
• Working with our own meat, cheese and seasonal produce
• Helping develop dishes and menus
• Baking, preserving, fermenting and using seasonal gluts
• Learning about whole-animal butchery and different cuts
• Maintaining high standards even when busy
• Taking daily kitchen tasks and keeping your section clean

Job description

Chef – 4-Day Week, Daytime Hours, No Split Shifts

Erringtons Barn

Elsrickle, Biggar, Elsrickle, SA, ML12 6QZ, UNITED KINGDOM

Tired of cooking the same food, from the same boxes, in the same kind of kitchen?

Good.

Because this job is a bit different.

We’re looking for an experienced Chef to join us at Errington’s Barn, our farm café and food business near Biggar in South Lanarkshire.

And when we say farm to table, we actually mean it.

We make award-winning farmhouse cheese from the milk of our own sheep and goats.

We rear animals on the farm.

We butcher meat.

We grow produce.

We preserve, bake, forage, cook seasonally and build menus around what is actually available.

And then we serve it.

So if you are the kind of chef who gets more excited by a great ingredient than by opening another packet, you might want to keep reading.

WHY THIS ISN’T JUST ANOTHER CHEF JOB

For a start...

You’ll work a 4-day week.

Your days are set, so you know when you are working.

7am–5pm. Four days a week. Three days off.

No split shifts.

No finishing at midnight.

No wondering from one week to the next what your rota is going to look like.

We work hard while we are here, but we think chefs should also be able to have a life outside the kitchen.

You’ll also get to work with ingredients that most chefs simply don’t have access to.

Our own award-winning cheeses.

Our own meat.

Seasonal produce.

Fantastic local suppliers.

And food that has a genuine story behind it.

We are also much more than a café.

Errington’s Barn is part of a working farm, cheesemaking business, farm shop and growing agritourism destination.

People come here to eat, buy cheese, visit the farm, attend events and understand more about where their food comes from.

So this is a kitchen with a bit more going on than eggs Benedict and chips.

WHAT A TYPICAL DAY MIGHT LOOK LIKE

7:00am – Arrive, get the kitchen fired up, check prep, deliveries and the plan for the day.

7:15am – Start prep: baking, sauces, stocks, vegetables, meat, cheese dishes and whatever seasonal produce we are working with that week.

8:45am – Final checks before breakfast service.

9:00am–11:30am – Breakfast service.

11:30am – Reset, regroup and get ready for lunch.

12:00pm–3:30pm – Lunch service using our own cheeses, meat, seasonal produce and ingredients from great local suppliers.

3:30pm – Service winds down. Clean down, prep ahead, sort orders, review what worked and get the kitchen ready for the next day.

5:00pm – Done.

Three days off.

Not bad for hospitality.

WHAT YOU’LL ACTUALLY BE DOING

You’ll be cooking.

Properly.

That means things like:

Preparing and cooking food from scratch

Working with our own meat, cheese and seasonal produce

Helping develop dishes and menus

Baking, preserving, fermenting and making the most of seasonal gluts

Learning more about whole-animal butchery and how different cuts can be used

Working alongside our development chef on new ideas

Keeping standards high even when it is busy

Taking responsibility for daily kitchen tasks

Working independently when required

Keeping your section clean, organised and ready

Helping us make the food at Errington’s Barn better and better

Some days will be busy.

Some days you will have to think on your feet.

And because we are a small team, there isn’t always someone standing beside you telling you what to do next.

Which brings us neatly to...

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We want someone who can cook.

But just as importantly, we want someone who gives a damn.

You’ll probably be a good fit if:

You have worked in a professional kitchen before

You enjoy cooking from scratch

You genuinely care about ingredients

You are confident working independently

You can follow instructions without needing to be chased

You notice what needs doing and get on with it

You are reliable and turn up when you say you will

You take pride in keeping a clean, organised kitchen

You stay calm when it gets busy

You like learning

You are interested in seasonality, farming, butchery, cheese, preserving or all of the above

You would rather make something properly than take a shortcut

And you definitely need to be the sort of person who works well in a small team.

There is nowhere to hide in a small business.

THIS PROBABLY ISN’T FOR YOU IF...

You need someone to remind you repeatedly what you were asked to do.

You think prep is somebody else’s problem.

You are regularly late.

You only want to cook exactly what you already know.

You dislike cleaning.

Or you are looking for somewhere to simply turn up, do your hours and go home.

That is completely fine.

It just probably isn’t Errington’s Barn.

THE GOOD STUFF

As well as a genuinely different kitchen environment, you’ll get:

A 4-day working week

7am–5pm shifts

Three days off every week

No split shifts

Predominantly daytime hours

Gratuities added to your wages

Free food while on shift

Staff discount in the farm shop and café

One paid food inspiration day or training day of your choice each year

Free farm tours and selected events for you and your immediate family

Free parking

The chance to learn more about cheesemaking, butchery, preserving and seasonal cooking

The opportunity to work with ingredients produced metres rather than miles from the kitchen

We want the benefits to actually make a difference to your working life, rather than just being a list of things every employer says they offer.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT US

Our family has been making farmhouse cheese here for more than 40 years.

Today, Errington Cheese produces award-winning sheep and goat milk cheeses, while Errington’s Barn brings together our café, farm shop, events and farm experiences.

We are ambitious about what we are building.

We want the Barn to become one of those places people tell their friends they have to visit.

Great food is a huge part of that.

Which means the person joining our kitchen matters.

A lot.