“Recruiting catering staff is the most difficult thing I have experienced in 20 years” Wine News

As the hospitality industry grapples with a labor shortage, perhaps a perfect Brexit and Covid storm, a leading restaurateur has called for a reset in how the hospitality industry recruits .

Tim Siadatan, co-founder of acclaimed Trullo restaurant and the Padella brand, says “it’s time for a new way to recruit”.

Speaking in the last episode of the Biting Talk podcast, Siadatan, who was one of the first interns at Jamie Oliver’s Restaurant 15 in 2002, said that “if we were smart as an industry and got the support of the government for marketing [we could] expose all the wonderful aspects of this industry.

Arguing that recruiting “is the biggest problem right now”, he admits that hiring is “the most difficult I’ve experienced in the best part of 20 years”.

Siadatan had to close the two Padella branches in east London, “because I just don’t have the staff.”

To attract people to the business, he says, “a new proposition” is needed. “It’s a seriously viable career with a lot of opportunities and avenues you can take,” he explains. “I don’t think young people recognize it and many parents think they prefer to enroll their children in college. It is not just the daily work in a restaurant, there is agriculture, for example, or sustainability, well-being, wine and baking.

“It’s a really successful career if you apply yourself – it’s a really exciting time for the UK to get involved in the hotel and food business.”

Siadatan adds that he is also “excited to employ people who may wish to change careers”.

You can listen to this week’s entire Biting Talk with Two Chicks interview, presented by Telegraph restaurant critic William Sitwell, by clicking on the audio player above. This week’s show also features Struan Robertson of Origin butchers launching its national “Steak club” delivery, Michelin-starred chef James Knappett expanding its Kitchen table restaurant, and mixologist Farhad Heydari on the cocktail to please a crowd.