With numerous companies across Scotland now trialling a four-day working week could such a thing exist when it comes to hospitality?
Tayside and Fife chefs are among some of those leading the way with their progressive attitudes towards finding the balance between work and home life.
In an industry where staff work long hours, are physically and mentally challenged each shift and work under intense pressure, a number of chef proprietors are turning to shorter working weeks.
But how are they managing to do all of this while still making a profit?
Billy Boyter, who owns The Cellar in Anstruther with his parents (now retired), introduced a four-day working week for his staff just last month.
The esteemed chef committed to the move in July last year and since January, has seen how beneficial it has been to his staff and he too even gets the chance to spend time with his family every Sunday.
Now closed Sunday to Tuesday, the 16-seat venue offers both lunch and dinner service Wednesday to Saturday.
“It has been a great move. I can already see it in the team that they are benefitting from it. It is obvious how much it will benefit them going forward,” he said.
“I want my staff to be happy and enjoy work. The days and hours we are in are still long, and it is stressful at points, but the benefit of that extra time to recharge and spend with friends and family is massive.”
One extra table of two covers costs
Purchasing the venue in 2013, Billy says striking the balance of making money and keeping staff healthy is fundamental to the business’ success.
Billy toyed with the idea of a four-day week for years, but was unsure if he’d ever be able to make it work.
By changing the restaurant’s layout and adding two extra covers to each service, he managed to cover the costs of a full day which meant he, and his team of five, could close an extra one.
Billy will be once more reconfiguring the restaurant around September, changing an area by the bar into a small private dining area.
“There will be places for financial or staffing reasons that can’t go to a four-day operation. I do hope places trial it or look into it. I came up in old school kitchens and I still have that mentality of working whatever hours I have to to get the job done, but I can’t expect my staff to do that.
“If you have happy staff you are going to retain them and be less worried about training new people all the time. Eliminating those problems will really benefit your business, staff’s wellbeing and your own wellbeing. It has to financially work for you though.”
Stopping lunch service
Just outside of St Andrews, Geoffrey Smeddle, chef patron of The Peat Inn has operated on a five-day basis from Tuesday to Saturday since opening his 50-seater restaurant 15 years ago.
While team numbers have changed, it was the pandemic and lack of staff available which resulted in Geoffrey temporarily postponing lunch service, which, in turn, has resulted in a permanent action.
He said: “It makes sense for us from a balance perspective. Over the years the restaurant has got busier and lunch trade, which started slow, got busier. Even quiet times of the year got busy.
“Suddenly every day was as busy as a weekend. Over time we expanded the team in the kitchen and restaurant. There have been times where chefs were doing split shifts and were working four days a week quite a while back. That helped keep people’s hours at a reasonable level, but it only works if you have enough staff.
“After lockdown we found it hard to recruit. We had core loyal and dedicated colleagues and in July 2021 we paused lunch service. Since then, we’ve only done dinner. We still operate five days a week and this is how we’ve managed to give the team a realistic life and work balance.”
Expectation vs reality
Geoffrey leads a team of five in the kitchen and five full-time and a number of part-time front of house staff.
“The formula we have is working very well. It works for our team and the business.
“One of the challenges that the industry has tried to confront is that they are sometimes forced to do too much and charge too little. I think there used to be a perception that prices were too low and it would be staff, suppliers, or the restaurant getting squeezed.
“Some guests expect a special lunch deal every day at venues. I offered something like it at The Peat Inn years ago, but because of the selling point of the menu, you make very little profit as you still have the same costs.
“There’s this expectation that dinner is more expensive and people are more prepared to pay more in the evening in comparison to lunch. People need to accept lunch is, and should be, as expensive as dinner.”
Rebuilding a restaurant brand
In St Andrews, Dean Banks, who reopened Haar Restaurant and Rooms in December is working towards trying to operate on a four-day operation.
However, with a restaurant brand to rebuild, only time will tell when this jump can progress.
He said: “We value our team across the whole business. The staff are the heart and soul of the operation and we believe in making their lives better wherever we can.
“We treat our staff as we would like to be treated ourselves and that means trying to achieve a good work and life balance.
“Launching a new seven-day restaurant at the moment would put heavy demands on staff, so we never even considered it. I would like to get to a four-day operation, like we have at The Pompadour in Edinburgh, but we need to establish Haar St Andrews so I’m not sure when that will be feasible.
“We just launched a matter of weeks ago. It realistically isn’t an option in the near future, but when it becomes a possibility, then I will definitely look at trying it.”
Staff are paramount to success
Leading a team of 16, Dean says his success is down to the staff he has surrounded himself with as, without them, he wouldn’t be able to offer the level of service he does at his venue on Golf Place.
He added: “I have worked in kitchens under chefs who couldn’t care less about wellbeing or staff, and it’s soul destroying. I almost walked away from the industry. I vowed I’d always treat staff with respect and that’s what I do.
“None of this would exist without my amazing team. I want them to enjoy work, their passion and be happy and excited to produce the very best for our customers. I want the staff to learn, grow and work their way up the ladder. I love seeing people go off and open their own places.
“I’ve worked seven days a week for years and it really is impossible to sustain a healthy and happy life.”
Jamie Scott of The Newport Restaurant at Newport-on-Tay says his team are currently working three full days and two half-days at the moment and is moving to a four-day operation come March.
The restaurant will open from Thursday to Sunday and while Jamie wanted to implement the changes sooner, he has committed to the March move.
Adam Newth of The Tayberry Restaurant in Broughty Ferry also operates a four day working week.
His kitchen is open Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 3pm and 6pm to 9pm.
TV chef Nick Nairn is also hoping to move his operation to a four-day working week when he has enough staff in place, too.
