We are seeking a Head Chef to lead our kitchen operations at Chepstow Racecourse, ensuring high food quality and compliance with hygiene regulations.
Arena Racing Company is a leading UK horse racing group with 21 venues, showcasing horse racing, greyhound racing, golf courses, hotels, and events. Our success is a team effort, offering great opportunities for growth, development, and career progression.
We are a diverse and inclusive workplace, committed to making a consistent effort to be role models on what diversity, inclusion, and belonging mean in society.
About the Role
The successful candidate will be responsible for:
* Organizing and supervising all kitchen operations across the sites, maintaining high food quality and complying with hygiene regulations.
* Controlling costs in general and maintaining good staff relations, as well as maintaining all legal and company health, safety & HACCP standards.
* Managing Chefs, Trainees, and Kitchen Porters, both full-time, casual & agency.
* Liaising closely with the Head of Catering and Events & Group Head Chef regarding revenue budgets and cost targets.
* Ensuring targets are met and providing explanations for any deviancies.
* Purchasing within agreed parameters, ensuring the budgeted food GP is achieved & nominated spend targets met.
* Overseeing and maintaining the Indicater catering platform, ensuring it is utilized fully, monitoring hub spends, finance reporting, stock takes, menu planning & allergens.
* Implementing and adhering to the Company Food Safety Management System across all areas within remit.
* Ensuring all menu planning and specs set by head office are correctly replicated across all areas within remit.
* Coordinating stock takes as required.
* Developing and implementing strategies for procuring, storing, and distributing goods or services and maintaining stock levels.
* Collecting and viewing the weeks function sheets for racing and non-racing and planning the kitchens time and resources.
* Ordering of the food, chemical and disposable stock for multi-outlets.
* Preparing and Cooking of foods during both non-race day and race day events.
* Supervising the cleaning down of the kitchens, by chefs & porters.
* Instructing both full-time and casual chefs in the correct Health & Safety and food safety procedures.
* Pre-sale package opportunities across business and standardizing offerings.
* Kitchen build consultations, catering improvements across group, assessing capex needs.
* Improvements to group restaurants, creating brands/flagships & how to increase repeat booking.
* Ensuring all EHO food safety and production requirements are met and maintained to current standards.
* Collating all HACCP documentation from all sites within remit and ensuring correctly followed, documented & stored.
* Ensuring temperature controls are monitored, recorded & checked.
* Ensuring quality control at all times throughout production process from raw material to ready plated end product.
* Controlling portion size and waste factors at all times, directly influencing GP.
* Ensuring a safe working environment at all times.
* Observing, maintaining and driving all Health & Safety and Hygiene policies.
* Meeting clients when required to assist in menu planning alongside the Catering and Events Manager.
* Maintaining good communication between Kitchen and other departments.
* Liaising with the Catering and Events Manager to arrange training for staff as appropriate.
* Coordinating and assisting with technical training and overall competency to management and employees with regards to the operational aspects of the food safety program, pest control, environmental, operational methods and personnel practices, and maintenance for food safety and hygiene /cleaning practices.
* Liaising with Local Authority Inspectors and enforcement officials as required.
* Managing the Kitchen staff rota across all sites in remit & delivering promptly to the staffing managers.
* Allocating daily workload appropriately to staff, maintaining effectiveness and operational control.
* Completing regular job and performance reviews with your team in line with company guidelines.
* Future nutrition law changes & allergen changes, getting the company ready for change.
* Jockeys nutritional audits and working alongside the BHA to ensure conformance.
Requirements
The ideal candidate will have:
* A minimum of 5 years experience as a Head Chef in high-quality multi-site operations environment.
* A strong understanding in food safety, HACCP, nutrition & allergens.
* A good understanding of purchasing systems, technical packages & I.T.
* The ability to work under pressure with strong leadership to lead the kitchen team in a professional manner.
* A demonstrated understanding and achievements in managing and improving cost of goods.
* A strong background in planning & control of variable Labour to budget.
* Experience in training & team development.
* A strong eye for detail.
* Experience in banqueting, retail & fine dining.
* A full & clean UK driving licence.
* Excellent communication skills.
* A passion for the kitchen environment and about our product.
* The ability to work well under pressure, organized, systematic and process-driven.
About Us
Arena Racing Company is a leading UK horse racing group with 21 venues, showcasing horse racing, greyhound racing, golf courses, hotels, and events. Our success is a team effort, offering great opportunities for growth, development, and career progression.
We are a diverse and inclusive workplace, committed to making a consistent effort to be role models on what diversity, inclusion, and belonging mean in society.