Company Overview
A Lounge is a neighborhood café-bar combining elements of a restaurant, British pub and coffee shop culture, with a unique ‘home-from-home’ atmosphere. Featuring a diverse menu, Lounges are open all day, every day for long lazy breakfasts, brunch and lunch, or a relaxed dinner and drinks. We serve a wide range of food and drinks (including full kid’s, gluten-free and vegan menus), served in a relaxed, welcoming space. Each Lounge is driven by an independent culture and focus on their local communities. As of February 2024, there are over 200 Lounges nationwide, yet each represents something different to different people. For some it is somewhere to go for a coffee after the school run; for others it is a place to catch up with friends; a place for an informal meal, a celebration or a night out. 90 per cent. of Lounge customers visit for multiple occasions. Lounge was founded in 2002 by a trio of longstanding friends, Dave Reid, Alex Reilley and Jake Bishop – now, over 20 years on, our focus on hospitality, comfort and familiarity remains at the heart of our Lounges, and it’s our wonderful teams and customers that make what we do so special.
You love real cooking. We love real cooking. Customers love real cooking. It’s a no-brainer so you wonder why so many other places don’t do it. We do it, and you’ll be doing it with us – fresh, customer led, and with high-quality ingredients. We also love our real people who run Lounges. The person who runs these brilliant people has to be super-brilliant, and that’ll be you. Your standards will be as high as ours, but exactly how you do it will be unique to you.
You’ll be doing it your way. You’ll be part of a dedicated, supportive team, working from our flexible all-day menu to give people food that’ll make their day. It’ll be your responsibility to make each dish to spec, in a clean and safe kitchen, and to make sure all prep and par is completed for each shift. You’ll be helping every customer leave happy. Which they tend to do. Thanks to your great food.
The Good Stuff
- Overtime pay for every hour worked over contracted hours!
- Staff food on every shift
- 50% off staff discount to enjoy outside working hours from day one
- Paid breaks
- 28 days holiday (inclusive of Bank Holidays) pro rata
- Enhanced maternity and paternity pay after 2 years service
- The most talked-about staff party in hospitality – Loungefest!
- Competitions and incentives (like jetting off on an all expenses paid trip with one of our suppliers)
- Company pension scheme
- Long service awards
- Power over your pay with Wagestream
- Emotional and practical support via the Licenced Trade Charity
- Great opportunity for personal development and career progression in a fast growing business
- Achievable bonuses
- Tips shared equally across the team, based on hours worked
- Christmas and Boxing Day off!
What You’ll Bring
- You are probably an existing Head Chef, Kitchen Manager or Sous Chef looking for your first step into a Head Chef role.
- You will have experience of working with fresh ingredients and be able to demonstrate good chef/kitchen skills (food prep hot and cold, cleaning, knife skills, good hygiene practices)
- Your work ethic is rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck in and leading from the front; playing an active role in delivering excellent kitchen and food standards as part of a high performing team.
- Familiar with managing through clear KPIs and making decisions considering labour; stock; food safety requirements plus others.
- You will have worked in kitchen environments where you’re required to report on various metrics including GPs; labour/house; food preparation.
- You will have demonstrated successful delivery of training and recruitment for kitchen teams including Apprentices, KPs, Chefs, Junior Sous Chefs and Sous Chefs.
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