Harrogate café to relocateHarrogate companies face recruitment ‘nightmare’

A Harrogate recruitment agency has said it is struggling to fill positions with new workers following the recent ease in covid restrictions.

Travail Employment Group in Harrogate said it has plenty of jobs available but is unable to find the people to fill them.

It has seen a change in employment trends post-pandemic, going from some of the busiest months ever for recruitment to having more vacancies than they can fill.

Lisa Headford, branch manager at Harrogate Travail Employment Group, said:

“We’ve found that now we could grow further if we had more candidates. We have a lot of vacancies we are struggling to fill.

“I think the pandemic has definitely shaken things up for recruitment. We have plenty of jobs available so no one should be out of work.

“There are lots of reasons why, but everyone is struggling to recruit.”

Two Harrogate companies have also said they have experienced similar difficulties in finding new staff.

The companies have both advertised for a number of jobs but only received a small number of applicants.

Cleaning company It’s Clean received a huge increase in applicants during lockdown, with many people on furlough eager to pick up hours elsewhere.

Recruitment manager Louise Brear said now she was struggling to fill positions:

“Over the last couple of weeks I’ve advertised lots of jobs and had nothing. I’m not sure if it’s because people came to us from hospitality over lockdown and are now heading back.

“We had so many applicants during furlough and now it’s completely stopped. We have more customers now too so we need more cleaners.”

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It was a similar story for The Wild Plum in Harrogate, which has been looking for a new supervisor and chef for around a month.

The chef role has now been filled and interviews organised for the supervisor position, but the cafe’s general manager Rachel Atkinson said it had been a “struggle”.

She said:

“We did struggle, it was a bit of a nightmare actually. I know of other people who also struggled to fill jobs. We have someone coming in to be interviewed so hopefully it is successful.”

Ms Atkinson thought the reason for their difficulties may have been due to people changing careers during lockdown.

Both businesses were hopeful they would find recruits, but said they had not experienced issues like this before.

Stray Foodie: The Wild Plum, Harrogate

Stray Foodie is a monthly food review written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

The Wild Plum, Hookstone Road, Harrogate, HG2 8BW

 

Frances’ Lunch: Crazy A-Bao You for £13.50 and a cup of coffee for £3.25

Looking up at the pink neon ‘Wild’ sign I thought to myself, am I in the Hardrock Café or is this a dream?

I was in fact in a restaurant located above a very popular ladies’ couture venue, The Snooty Frox, in Harrogate.

The Wild Plum Café is busy, modern, clean and bright and I’ve been told customers queue to enter such a hallowed space. It certainly is the place to be; it’s a vibrant and trendy space. A great contrast to the entrance, where I was met by the Lady of the House who was most charming. I was shown upstairs and found Girl Power at its best.

Head Chef, Bethany, daughter of the Snooty Frox owners, rules with her two female colleagues dressed in great ‘modern Chef’ gear.

The three chefs, including the head chef, Bethany (middle).

They were dishing out bags of style from an open kitchen with fabulous bottles of fermented fruit and vegetables. This immediately says, ‘serious kitchen’.

This is clever food; artistic, creative and hot (in every sense of the word). The Menu included the sort of food you can eat at any time of the day, assuming the seasoning is taken care of.

I was spoilt for choice but had the home-made Crazy A-Bao You with Carrot Kimchi, Sesame Soy Crispy Egg and Sriracha Mayo with the Crispy Cornflake Chicken. It arrived as Bao Buns – which were as pink as the Neon sign – in a bamboo steamer.

Would you like Frances to review your restaurant or café?

From pop-up to fine dining, Frances would like to hear from you. If you’d like her to write a review on your food, send her an email to: foodie@thestrayferret.co.uk.

The Carrot Kimchi was on its base with Cornflake Chicken-style burgers and Crispy Eggs topped with a wonderful array of culinary flora. It had a syringe of Mayo at its side and some sweet jam. This was a very generous portion.

There were plenty of other choices and I was very tempted to have the Butternut Squash Fritter (GF) which was Mexican-style with smashed avocado, poached egg, rocket, sweet chilli jam, roasted garlic yoghurt and homemade salsa.

The indoor seating area of The Wild Plum. Above (and featured) image credit: Ben Bentley.

The Wild Plum Buddha Bowl sounded so exciting but with so much going on. Maybe – for a slightly reserved palate – a little confusing?

This food was exciting, tasty and young and I was told everything is made fresh on the premises. Looking around the Café, the other dishes were colourful and lovely.

Knowledge of flavour and ingredients comes with experience and perhaps not always so exciting but leaves a longer lasting impression.

These are exciting times in the culinary world, as it is all changing. It is young dedicated female chefs, like Bethany, who will shortly be leading the way in our industry, certainly in Harrogate.

To find out more about The Wild Plum click here. To read more about Frances’ fantastic career click here.

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