Hire a Relief or Temporary Chef Fast — DBS-Checked & Ready to Work

Need to Hire a Chef Today? We’ve Got You Covered

We specialise in supplying DBS-checked relief and temporary chefs to kitchens that need urgent or short-term cover. Whether you’re dealing with staff sickness, holiday absences, or sudden demand, our chefs are available on a same-day or next-day basis. We regularly support care homes, schools, nurseries, and other commercial kitchens, ensuring meals are served safely, on time, and to the highest standards — even at short notice.

Temporary, Relief & Emergency Chef Hire Services

When your kitchen is short-staffed, you need more than just a warm body — you need a skilled, reliable chef who can step in and deliver. That’s exactly what we provide. At The Chef Tree, we supply temporary, relief, and emergency chefs tailored to your kitchen’s unique environment — whether that’s a care home, school, nursery, restaurant, or staff canteen. Our chefs are fully vetted, DBS-checked, and ready to work — often with just a few hours’ notice.

Care Home Chefs

We provide experienced chefs who understand the unique requirements of care home kitchens. All chefs are DBS-checked, familiar with dietary restrictions and soft food preparation, and trained to work safely in regulated environments.

✅ Perfect for: Elderly care, dementia care, respite centres
📍 Popular in: Bristol, Oxford, Birmingham & nearby areas

School & Nursery Chefs

Our school chefs and nursery chefs are trained in child nutrition, allergy awareness, and food safety. Whether you need cover for a cook manager or kitchen assistant, we can supply reliable professionals quickly.

✅ Fully compliant with Allergen Regulations
📅 Available for morning shifts, term-time only, or ad hoc bookings

Emergency / Last-Minute Chef Cover

Need a chef today or tomorrow? We specialise in emergency chef hire — ideal for sudden illness, no-shows, or urgent kitchen demand. Call us before 10am and we’ll aim to fulfil same-day bookings where possible.

📞 Fast response guaranteed
✅ Chef arrives with uniform, ID, and references ready

Chefs for Holiday & Sickness Cover

Don’t get caught short during peak holiday weeks or flu season. We provide pre-booked holiday cover and short-term sickness replacements, so your kitchen keeps running without disruption.

📅 Book cover in advance or reactively
✅ Long-term and repeat placements available

Restaurant or Kitchen Chefs

Whether you’re running a restaurant, café, pub, or staff canteen, we can support your kitchen with temporary chef cover. Our team includes commis to head chef level, with strong experience in high-volume service.

🍽️ Hospitality-trained chefs
✅ Available for one-off shifts or longer-term contracts

Why Choose The Chef Tree?

Trusted by Catering Managers Across the UK

At The Chef Tree, we’re more than just a chef agency — we’re a trusted partner for care homes, schools, nurseries, and catering operations who rely on fast, consistent kitchen support. Here’s why teams across the UK choose us:

✅ 99% Fulfilment Rate

We pride ourselves on a 99% chef cover success rate, even with last-minute or emergency requests. When you call, we deliver — it’s that simple.

✅ Vetted, DBS-Cleared Chefs

Every chef we supply is thoroughly vetted, DBS-checked, and referenced. We only work with professionals who meet our high standards — so your team and service users are always in safe hands.

✅ Rapid Response for Urgent Cover

We specialise in same-day or next-day placements, making us the go-to agency for emergency chef hire across the South and Midlands.

✅ Transparent Rates — No Hidden Fees

With The Chef Tree, what you see is what you pay. We offer clear, upfront pricing, with no last-minute extras or admin fees.

✅ Local Focus, National Quality

We operate in Bristol, Birmingham, Oxford, Reading and all surrounding areas — combining the speed of a local provider with the professionalism of a national network.

If you are in the hospitality industry in the UK and you are struggling to fill your restaurant or kitchen staff vacancies, let us help you bridge the gap and take the worry off your shoulders with our simple and transparent recruitment process. Watch our chefs work their magic in your kitchen cooking up a storm and serving the most superb food. We, at the Chef Tree pride ourselves on excellent customer relations, integrity, courtesy and efficiency and we know that our chefs won’t let you down.

The Benefits of Professional Chef Hire

Using a chef-hire agency in your catering venue or hospitality business is beneficial for a number of reasons.

Not only can our experienced chefs fill in during staff shortages or busy seasons, but they can also take on the role of an executive chef to oversee kitchen operations and menu development including catering for special dietary requirements and gluten-free food that tastes amazing. Although we are not a private chef company, we can also provide special event chef services for larger catering events and banquets within your business, to rival the best private chefs.

Flexibility is Key

A chef hire agency can provide you with the flexibility to hire chefs on a temporary or permanent basis, depending on your needs. This can be particularly useful during busy periods, such as holiday seasons or special events, when you may need additional kitchen staff to keep up with the demand.

We at the Chef Tree understand that the needs of the hospitality industry can be unpredictable, and our team of chefs is able to adapt to changing situations. Whether you need an executive chef, cooks or commis chefs to fill in urgent positions for an extended period, or short-term kitchen staff to bridge a gap, we can provide the right person for the job. Using our chef hire agency, allows you to respond quickly to changes in demand without having to commit to a long-term replacement.

Expertise & Experience

Chef hire agencies work with a wide range of chefs, many of whom have extensive experience and training in different culinary styles, world cuisine and techniques. By working with a chef hire agency you can access a pool of skilled and experienced chefs who can bring new ideas, professionalism and expertise to your kitchen.

All of our chefs have years of experience in the catering and hospitality industry and they have been carefully vetted to ensure they have the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in any fast-paced and high-pressure catering environment.

Expertise & Experience

Chef hire agencies work with a wide range of chefs, many of whom have extensive experience and training in different culinary styles, world cuisine and techniques. By working with a chef hire agency you can access a pool of skilled and experienced chefs who can bring new ideas, professionalism and expertise to your kitchen.

All of our chefs have years of experience in the catering and hospitality industry and they have been carefully vetted to ensure they have the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in any fast-paced and high-pressure catering environment.

Menu Design & Innovation

In addition to providing temporary and more permanent chef services, a professional chef hire agency can also offer consulting services for menu design and kitchen operations. From cooking a delicious meal to creating sample menus taking into account gluten-free and special dietary requirements, our chefs are experts at designing and executing delicious and innovative menus that will appeal to your guests.

Cost-Effectiveness

Hiring a chef, cook or kitchen staff through a chef-hire service can be a cost-effective solution if you are looking to bridge a temporary gap in your catering business. Instead of having to go through the formalities of a full recruitment drive and a time-consuming chef selection process where you have to worry about paying salaries, travel costs and benefits of a full-time or part-time member of staff, you can leave that responsibility to a chef service agency and pay for their expertise on an as-needed basis. Additionally, our highly skilled chefs can also help you optimize your kitchen operations for efficiency and cost-effectiveness, which can lead to more cost savings in the long run.

Guest Satisfaction

As they say in the catering industry, the proof is in the pudding when it comes to dining experiences and we are well aware that a skilled chef can make all the difference when it comes to guest satisfaction. Our outstanding chefs are dedicated to providing excellent dining experiences and cooking high-quality dishes that will delight your guests, tantalise their tastebuds and leave a positive impression on them.

Temporary Solutions

A chef hire agency can also provide you with temporary solutions when your chefs are on vacation, absent due to sickness, or when you are looking to try out a new chef before offering them a permanent position.

Time Saving

Recruiting a chef can be a time-consuming process, with a lot of advertising, sifting through resumes, and conducting interviews. By working with a chef hire agency, you can save a lot of time and effort as the agency will take care of the recruitment process for you.

Our Chef Selection Process

At the Chef Tree, good food and teamwork are at the heart of everything we do. We pride ourselves on providing the highest quality service to all our clients because we know how important it is to have the right staff at your company.

Our chef selection process is thorough so you can be sure of

hiring the right person for the right job. We look for chefs and cooks with at least 5 years of relevant and continuous experience in the catering or hospitality industry, and even personal chef experience on a professional level cooking or even creating outstanding food and exciting menus in their own home. They need to be passionate about their craft and possess good communication skills and be able to perform under pressure in high-paced environments. Our dedicated team of trainers and office staff will make sure that when our chefs step into your business and pick up service, they will have been vetted and they will hit the ground running.

Our Venues & Locations

We at the Chef Tree are proud to provide a professional chef hire service in over 17 locations throughout the South West of the UK running from the South Coast in Exeter, Bristol, and Bath to South Wales and all the way up to Birmingham. Our chef-hire service operates in hotels, restaurants, gastro pubs, hospitals, schools, universities, nurseries, nursing homes, care homes and cafes creating top-quality food to exact menu specifications and cooked to an amazing standard.

Booking Your Chef Couldn’t Be Easier!

At the Chef Tree chef agency, we have a streamlined process for booking your chefs and we have done everything to make this process as easy as possible. The first step for any new client is to get a quote by clicking the button below and following our transparent process and pricing.

Our Guarantee to You

At The Chef Tree, we understand that hiring a chef can be challenging – you want to ensure that you get the best chef possible while also staying within budget. Our experienced team of recruiters has extensive knowledge of both hospitality industry terms and conditions, as well as chef qualifications, so you can be sure you’re getting the most value for your hire.