Why 2026 is a different year for chef staffing costs
If you set your kitchen staffing budget based on last year’s numbers, you are already behind.
Two policy shifts have rewritten the cost base for every hospitality employer in the UK. The National Living Wage rises to £12.71 per hour from April 2026, a 4.1% increase on the current £12.21 and an 11.1% cumulative rise since April 2024 (GOV.UK). On top of that, the employer National Insurance increase that landed in April 2025 (from 13.8% to 15%, with the secondary threshold dropping from £9,100 to £5,000) is still working its way through every staffing bill in the sector.
The impact is not theoretical. UKHospitality estimates the combined cost of NICs, the minimum wage rise, and business rates changes at £3 billion to £3.4 billion across the sector. A survey by UKHospitality found that 70% of hospitality businesses are planning to reduce employment levels in response, and 60% have cancelled investment. ONS payroll data shows the sector has already lost approximately 124,000 payrolled employees in the 12 months to May 2025, a 5.6% decline (ONS/HMRC PAYE data, cited by The Caterer).
For operations managers and catering managers, the question is no longer whether costs are rising. It is how to budget accurately so you are not caught short on a busy weekend. This guide sets out the market rates you should expect to see when booking temp chefs in 2026, broken down by role, region, and sector.
Temp chef pay rates by role
The figures below represent what the worker receives (PAYE hourly pay), not what the client is charged. Client bill rates include additional employment costs and agency margin. More on that below.
| Role | Pay Rate (per hour) | Permanent Salary Range |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen Porter | £12.71–£16 | £21,000–£25,700 |
| Commis Chef | £12.71–£17 | £22,000–£27,000 |
| Chef de Partie | £15–£20 | £24,000–£36,000 |
| Sous Chef | £17–£24 | £29,000–£40,000 |
| Head Chef | £20–£30+ | £35,000–£57,000 |
These ranges are drawn from job listings and salary data across Indeed, Caterer.com, Totaljobs, Agency Central, Select Recruitment, and specialist chef agencies including Chef Agency UK and Chefs Jobs UK (REC member). Where sources conflict, we have used the mid-range consensus.
Kitchen porter: £12.71–£16/hr
Kitchen porters sit closest to the minimum wage floor. From April 2026, the NLW of £12.71 effectively becomes the starting rate for any adult KP. Advertised agency rates for KPs start from £12.71 and go up to £16 per hour, with London and peak-event shifts at the top end. Annual permanent KP salaries cluster around £21,000 to £25,700, though much of that historical data becomes obsolete once the new NLW kicks in. A full-time KP at £12.71/hr working 40 hours is already on £26,437 annually (Gemini research, citing Indeed/Breakroom data).
Commis chef: £12.71–£17/hr
Commis and junior chefs typically earn between £12.71 and £17 per hour on agency assignments. Permanent salaries for commis roles range from £22,000 to £27,000 nationally (Indeed, Feb 2026, based on 3,200 salary reports). The gap between KP and commis rates is narrowing as NLW compression pushes the bottom of the scale upward.
Chef de Partie: £15–£20/hr
CDPs are the backbone of most agency bookings. Temp rates range from £15 to £20 per hour, with London and premium venues pushing toward £20+. Permanent CDP salaries nationally range from £24,000 to £36,000, a wide band that reflects the difference between a pub kitchen and a 5-star hotel (Indeed 2025 average: £28,115; Glassdoor Feb 2026 average: £25,117). The ONS going rate for SOC 5434 (Chefs) sits at £15.88/hr, or £30,960 annually (ONS ASHE, May 2025).
Agency CDPs earn a clear premium over permanent equivalents. Consensus across multiple sources puts the temp premium at 33% to 50% for this role (Chef Network, Select Recruitment, Gemini research).
Sous chef: £17–£24/hr
Sous chef agency rates run from £17 to £24 per hour, depending on venue type and location. Premium events and London assignments can push beyond £24. Permanent sous chef salaries average £33,034 nationally according to Indeed (Sep 2025, based on 20,200 salary reports), with a consensus range of £29,000 to £40,000.
Head chef: £20–£30+/hr
Head chef temp cover starts around £20 per hour and can reach £30 or more for fine dining, large-scale events, or emergency bookings. Permanent head chef salaries range from £35,000 to £57,000 nationally (Indeed Nov 2025 average: £38,386), with luxury hotel and Michelin-level roles reaching well above that. Executive head chef positions command £45,000 to £75,000+ permanently (Caterer.com, CV-Library, Indeed).
If you are looking to get a quote for your kitchen, the role mix is the single biggest driver of your hourly bill.
Regional variation: where you are matters
Chef pay is not uniform across the UK. London commands a clear premium, and regional differences are consistent across every data source we reviewed.
London
London rates run 15–20% above the national average for senior brigade roles. The voluntary London Living Wage sits at £14.80/hr (Living Wage Foundation, Oct 2025), which is £2.09 above the NLW. Many London employers, particularly in corporate catering and hotels, benchmark to the London Living Wage rather than the statutory minimum. Indeed data shows London sous chefs averaging £39,760 (Feb 2026), compared to £33,034 nationally. If you are staffing London venues, budget accordingly.
Manchester and the North West
Manchester is the strongest market outside London for chef agency demand. Football, events, and a large corporate catering sector fuel that demand. Indeed data places Manchester sous chefs at £28,937 (Glassdoor), with CDPs ranging from £25,000 to £28,000 regionally (Checkasalary/Reed). Temp agency rates broadly track national averages, with event-day premiums in line with stadium and arena demand.
Midlands
Birmingham and the wider Midlands sit slightly below national averages. CDP salaries range from £23,000 to £27,000 in the region (Checkasalary, Indeed), with the NEC and large conference venues providing the main source of agency demand. Sous chef averages sit around £29,491 in Birmingham (Indeed).
North East, Wales, and Scotland
These regions consistently show the lowest permanent salaries. North East sous chef data from Indeed is limited, and Checkasalary figures as low as £17,084 likely reflect part-time data contamination (flagged by the Perplexity research report itself). Scotland shows stronger figures, with Edinburgh sous chefs at £33,064 and Glasgow at £34,505 (Indeed). Agency rates in these regions are less discounted than permanent salaries would suggest, because agency workers are mobile and the national floor applies everywhere.
Sector differences: not all kitchens pay the same
Events and stadiums
Stadium and large-event kitchens are where agency demand peaks hardest. Match days, concerts, conferencing, and private events drive high-volume bookings at short notice. Rates for event work tend to sit at the upper end of each role band. A CDP on a Saturday Premier League fixture will command more than a CDP in a Monday hotel kitchen. Minimum booking lengths of 4–6 hours are standard across the industry (KSB Recruitment, Staff Direct, Sidekicker).
Hospitality: hotels and restaurants
Hotels and restaurants represent the broadest slice of the market. Pay varies enormously by venue. A boutique hotel sous chef and a motorway services sous chef are different jobs at different rates. The Institute of Hospitality/Caterer.com 2025 salary survey provides useful benchmarks here: £28,900–£29,900 for CDPs and £33,300–£34,600 for sous chefs at the national level.
Healthcare
Healthcare catering operates on tighter margins and more regulated environments. Rates tend to sit in the lower-to-mid range, but compliance requirements (food safety, dietary standards, patient safety) mean agencies need to supply experienced staff. The trade-off is typically longer-term, more predictable bookings versus the feast-and-famine of events.
Education
School and university kitchens are term-time operations, running 39 weeks per year rather than 52. This affects annualised costs significantly. Agency rates for education are broadly in line with national averages, but the booking pattern is different: consistent weekday shifts, no weekends, school holidays off. DBS checks (Enhanced with Barred List for schools) and Safer Recruitment compliance are non-negotiable in this sector.
What is inside an agency hourly rate?
When a client sees a charge rate of, say, £24/hr for a CDP, that number is not profit. It covers a stack of employment costs that the agency absorbs on the client’s behalf. Here is what goes into a typical agency bill rate.
The worker’s hourly wage is the base layer, subject to NLW as the legal floor.
On top of that sits Working Time Directive holiday pay, calculated as a 12.07% uplift. Since April 2024, rolled-up holiday pay has been re-legalised for irregular-hours and part-year workers (GOV.UK). The 12.07% figure comes from dividing 5.6 weeks by 46.4 working weeks, and it must be shown as a separate line on the payslip. Some agencies include this in the quoted rate; others accrue it separately. Either way, the client is paying for it.
Employer pension adds a further 3% minimum. Auto-enrolment applies to qualifying workers, and the employer contributes at least 3% of qualifying earnings.
Employer National Insurance (15% from April 2025) takes the next slice. With the threshold now at £5,000, the NIC bite is bigger than ever. QX Global Group and Payme estimate the NIC increase alone adds £750–£940 per agency worker per year, or roughly £0.40–£0.50 per hour (QX Global Group/Payme, 2025).
The agency margin covers recruitment, vetting, payroll administration, insurance, compliance, and the operational cost of running a staffing business. Industry benchmarks from Staffing Industry Analysts put the average gross margin for hospitality staffing at approximately 25%.
When you compare an agency rate to a direct-hire hourly wage, you are not comparing like with like. The agency rate bundles costs that a direct employer pays separately, and often underestimates.
The hidden costs of hiring direct
A permanent chef on £14/hr looks cheaper than a temp at £18–£24/hr. Until you add everything else.
Job ads, agency finder’s fees for permanent placement, interview time, trial shifts. The CIPD estimates the average cost to fill a role in the UK at over £3,000. That cost repeats every time someone leaves.
Document checks, DBS where required, food safety certification verification. Your HR team absorbs this; an agency handles it before the worker arrives.
When a permanent chef calls in sick on Saturday morning, you have a gap and no backup. With an agency, you get a replacement. That is what the margin pays for.
Hospitality staff turnover runs between 39% and 52% depending on the source (RotaCloud 2024 data: 38.7%; CIPD benchmarking: 52%). The Access Group reports that 42% of new hospitality hires leave within 90 days. Every departure restarts the recruitment cycle.
A permanent chef gets 5.6 weeks of holiday. Someone has to cover those shifts. Agency cover during leave is an additional cost that rarely appears in the “direct hire is cheaper” calculation.
The same 15% employer NIC rate and £5,000 threshold applies to your permanent staff too, but it is easy to forget when comparing headline hourly rates.
The better question: what does it cost when your kitchen is short-staffed on a busy service? For most operations, a reliable agency relationship works as insurance.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average hourly rate for a temp chef in the UK in 2026?
It depends on the role. Kitchen porters start from £12.71/hr (the National Living Wage floor from April 2026). Chef de partie rates range from £15 to £20/hr, and head chef cover runs from £20 to £30+/hr. London rates are typically 15–20% higher. These are worker pay rates; client charge rates are higher once employment costs and margin are included.
Why are agency chef rates higher than permanent salaries?
Agency rates include costs that permanent employers pay separately: rolled-up holiday pay (12.07%), employer NI (15%), employer pension (3%), plus recruitment, compliance, and payroll admin. The agency also absorbs no-show risk and provides replacements at no extra charge. When you account for the full cost of employment, the gap between agency and direct-hire narrows significantly.
How much has employer National Insurance added to staffing costs?
The employer NIC increase from 13.8% to 15% (April 2025), combined with the threshold drop from £9,100 to £5,000, adds an estimated £750–£940 per worker per year for agency staff (QX Global Group/Payme). UKHospitality estimates the total sector impact at £3–3.4 billion when combined with NMW increases and business rates changes. Around 774,000 hospitality workers were newly brought into the NIC threshold by this change (UKHospitality).
Do temp chef rates include holiday pay?
They should. Since April 2024, rolled-up holiday pay (12.07% uplift) has been re-legalised for irregular-hours workers. Reputable agencies either include it in the quoted hourly rate or accrue it separately. Either way, it must appear as a distinct line on the worker’s payslip. Always confirm with your agency whether quoted rates are inclusive or exclusive of holiday pay.
Get accurate rates for your kitchen
Every kitchen is different. Role mix, location, sector, booking patterns, and volume all affect the rate you will pay. The figures in this guide give you a solid benchmark, but the fastest way to get an accurate number is to talk to us directly.
Contact Chefs Bay for a quote. We will confirm rates within 2 hours. If you need a single CDP for a Wednesday lunch service or a full brigade for a 5,000-cover stadium event, we will give you a straight answer.