The Gannet Glasgow to switch to a four day week 'as a direct result of the staffing crisis'

Tanwen Dawn-Hiscox

Deputy Editor

Peter McKenna, chef owner of award-winning Glasgow restaurant The Gannet has made the decision to close for an extra day a week to avoid burning out his team, having struggled to recruit staff since reopening.

Sharing the news on social media, he said it was a "difficult decision" made "as a direct result of the staffing crisis brought on by Brexit and Covid," and a desire "to ensure the team's wellbeing and give more of a work-life balance."

"I am sure everyone is aware that the hospitality industry is currently going through something of a staffing crisis. Our sector is seeing the fallout from the (not so) perfect storm of Covid and Brexit.

"Like so many of our contemporaries we have struggled to add to our core team coming out of lockdown.

"We have been running at capacity and feedback from our guests has been incredible.

"But now, three months later, with no new recruits on the horizon, we are running the risk of burning out our team. This has left us with the difficult decision to close an extra day to ensure the team's wellbeing and give more of a work-life balance.

"Here at The Gannet we pride ourselves on having a brilliant team, full of dedicated individuals that work together to ensure your time with us is memorable for all the right reasons."

The restaurant will join an ever-growing list of operators choosing to do the same in order to spare their teams from exhaustion, including The Burlington at The Devonshire Arms, The Art School in Liverpool, The Seren Collection restaurants and The Cellar.

Others, like Le Gavroche, Pied à Terre and The Peat Inn in Fife, have suspended lunch services to the same end.

Even prior the pandemic, some restaurants had made the move, such as Restaurant Sat Bains, where the policy was introduced in 2015 to improve their teams' work-life balance and ensure that their business remains attractive to potential applicants.

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