Rosa's Thai launches chef training programme paying £11.45 an hour

Rosa’s Thai has launched a chef training programme paying £11.45 per hour in a bid to boost recruitment across its restaurants.

Named Wok School, it is based out of the lower ground floor Rosa’s restaurant in London’s Warren Street and is open to candidates of all levels.

There are three programmes of three, five and 10 days taught by the group’s chefs and all participants are paid £11.45 per hour, including service charge, for the duration.

Each participant will be offered a guaranteed full-time chef role at a Rosa’s Thai restaurant on completion of the course.

Wok School will open for customers Monday to Friday from 12-3pm with a reduced menu that will change daily according to the training programme and include dishes such as pad Thai; red Thai curry; and chilli and basil stir fry at a 50% discount. Guests will be encouraged to offer feedback to help candidates learn from the scheme.

The upstairs restaurant will continue to serve a full menu as normal.

Gillian Lambden, people director at Rosa’s Thai, said: “Rosa’s is dedicated to providing the best training and development to our teams to empower them to earn as they learn.

“We are extremely excited about the launch of the Rosa’s Wok school as it provides opportunities for promotion for internal team members as well as our new recruits.”

Rosa’s, which has 26 restaurants nationwide, is the latest hospitality group to launch a dedicated recruitment scheme to tackle staff shortages across the industry, joining the likes of D&D London and Caprice Holdings.

Up to 83% of hospitality businesses have reported difficulties in recruiting, according to figures from the British Chamber of Commerce.

Sunny Hodge, owner of London bars Diogenes the Dog and Aspen & Meursault, has launched a petition to extend skilled working visas to hospitality workers.

Rosa’s was founded in London’s Spitalfields by chef Saiphin Moore in 2008 and has been rapidly expanding since private equity firm TriSpan acquired a majority stake in 2018.

It has opened sites in London, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester and launches in York and Cardiff are expected in early 2022.