Michelin-starred Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms is to change to a 4-day operation from November 2015 after extensive research consulting with industry leaders – meaning his staff will gain 48 days per annum more in leisure hours.
Chef Sat Bains and his business partner and wife, Amanda have decided to open Wednesday through to Saturday only and have assured that their staff will not lose out on salary or staff benefits and will in effect have a 3-day weekend each week.
Restaurant Sat Bains
The decision to finally change the working hours at the restaurant has been one Sat and Amanda have been considering for the past few years.
Sat comments, “The industry has changed from when we were young and training. I’m old school. I’m used to the unsociable hours but why should the next generation have to be? We’ve got to try and make this brilliant industry attractive again. I’m passionate about training the next generation coming through, but the pool is drying up – front and back of house. We need incentives to attract the workforce. It’s a massive decision for us and yes it will affect our profits, but we both firmly believe this hopefully will be a solution.”
With almost 60 years working in hospitality between them, Sat and Amanda have witnessed what appears to be a growing trend in a shortage of suitable applicants throughout the industry.
Amanda said: “We have many close friends in the industry. Everyone, to varying degrees, has experienced a shortage of talented, hard working and aspirational people applying for new openings. The industry is suffering. We’ve tried other things and by changing the hours we work at our own restaurant now, we hope it will shift this dynamic for the better.
“It’s a high risk/high reward strategy, but one both Sat and I are committed to take. We’ve come to realise it can be feasible and maybe one, where the long-term benefits may outweigh that initial risk. We need the staff from a business perspective but also from a guest experience one too. We’re always looking to enhance our guests experience with us, but that will only keep evolving with the right workforce.”
Their research has highlighted the three key elements that most candidates and existing workforce are looking for in an employer:
Good pay and career progression
Quality time off with friends and family
Excellent working conditions
By offering all three of these key elements now, they believe they will retain and provide longevity to existing and potential candidates, attracting a new generation of eager, passionate and motivated staff willing to join and help rejuvenate the industry.
One major opportunity chef Sat Bains is looking forward to exploiting from the 4-day week is the time to concentrate on dish research in his own Development Kitchen.
He said: “We’re frequently so busy here, it’s often difficult to get uninterrupted time to just focus on development. Not only is this going to make the team here a very happy bunch of people, but I can also lock myself away on my own for an entire day if I choose, just to experiment with flavours, processes and ingredients.”
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