# Where to find/ How to employ the best staff



## PMT Cupcakes (Jun 2, 2011)

Hi,

I feel like am flooding this forum tonight.









So with most of the equipment ordered and the builders in our shop ripping out and starting to put back together I need to start thinking about staff.

But where is the best place to advertise for experienced staff? Is there a particular hang out for trained barista's? I don't really want to go down the agency route due the fees they charge. I have seen quite few ads on gumtree so maybe that is the way to go.

Our coffee shop has a big emphasis on cake as this is where my experience is, so for at least the first year I will be doing all the baking. With me being in the kitchen most of the day it is REALLY important to have the right staff on the counter. We are thinking of opening 7am - 6pm with 2 members of staff, one morning, one afternoon. We are based in Croydon, South London. Right next to a very busy tram stop that is only a few minutes from East croydon which is very well serviced for central london, only takes 15/20 mins on a fast train so I could theoretically draw on a wide area for staff.

Many thanks for reading. Agian sorry to bombard the board.

Amanda


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Welcome Amanda

Your best bet is to advertise for free on *http://www.londoncoffeejobs.co.uk/*, which is frequented by those in the know who are looking for their next move and is gaining good visibility at present.

Once you've placed an ad then post the link here and I will also tweet it out for you too.

You may need to revise your staffing levels for busy periods as 1 morning/1 afternoon is not likely to be enough, even with a modest trade

Thanks for joining Coffee Forums UK. I look forward to seeing how you progress.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

How many staff is that in total? My own research suggests keeping your ratio of seated customers-to-staff at between 8:1 and 11:1 (per hour). So at, say, 10:1 you would need 4 members of staff if your place gets 40 seated custs p/h who have a drink and food. The ratio can be tweaked depending on how labour-intensive your menu is. If just coffee and cafe, you may need less staff so perhaps 15:1.

It's not a science but it's better than a finger in the air, and if you do an hourly forecast of customer numbers it will help with creating a staffing rota.

Good luck.


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## Mr8ean (May 8, 2011)

MikeHag,

Where did you get these figures from? I'd be interested to read the more detailed version.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

It comes from travelling around, sitting in cafes at different times of the day with my laptop open and surreptitiously filling in a template of data/findings in a spreadsheet. Nothing overly scientific, just primary data from observation.


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## Mr8ean (May 8, 2011)

Fair play. In fact that gives me even more opportunity to sit in coffee shops as I can call it a survey as opposed to just market research.

Thanks.


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