How much does a UK chef earn in 2026/27?

A Commis Chef (the first trained kitchen role) earns £22,000 to £26,000 regional and £25,000 to £30,000 in London. A Chef de Partie running a section earns £28,000 to £35,000 regional and £32,000 to £42,000 in London. Sous Chefs earn £32,000 to £45,000 regional and £40,000 to £55,000 in London. Head Chefs earn £40,000 to £65,000 regional and £55,000 to £90,000 in London, with one-Michelin London Head Chefs reaching £80,000 to £120,000. Executive Chefs at hotel groups commonly earn £70,000 to £120,000 with the largest estates paying £150,000-plus.

What is the kitchen brigade and how does pay progress through it?

The UK kitchen brigade follows the Escoffier-derived structure of Apprentice / Kitchen Porter (NLW anchor), Commis Chef (year one and two trained), Demi Chef de Partie, Chef de Partie (CDP, runs a section), Junior Sous Chef, Sous Chef (deputy head), Head Chef and Executive Chef (multi-site or hotel). Each step is one to three years of progression and adds roughly £3,000 to £8,000 of gross. Above Executive Chef the route is Chef-Patron (restaurant equity ownership) or larger consultancy roles. Pay at each step varies by restaurant tier - a Sous Chef in a Wetherspoon kitchen and a Sous Chef in a one-Michelin London restaurant can be £15,000 to £25,000 apart on base.

How does the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 affect chef pay?

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 came into force on 1 October 2024. It requires employers to pass 100% of qualifying tips, gratuities and service charges to workers fairly, without making deductions other than necessary tax. Service charge income, when distributed through a tronc, is paid under PAYE but is exempt from employee and employer National Insurance contributions provided the tronc is operated by an independent troncmaster and the employer plays no part in deciding allocations. For most chefs this materially increases the share of service-charge revenue that lands in their bank account compared with pre-October 2024 arrangements, where some employers retained a portion to cover card-processing fees or kitchen consumables.

Are tips and service charge income taxed for chefs?

Yes, tips and service charge income are taxable as employment income. Cash tips received directly from customers are taxable and should be declared by the worker through PAYE adjustment or Self Assessment. Tips paid via card or service charge that are pooled and distributed through a tronc scheme are paid through PAYE; if the troncmaster is independent of the employer the tronc payments are exempt from National Insurance for both employee and employer, which is one of the few NI savings still available in the UK pay system. If the employer controls the tronc distribution, NI applies in full as on ordinary pay.

How long are chef working hours, and what is the working time directive opt-out?

Professional kitchen hours are long: a Sous Chef in a serious kitchen typically works 50 to 70 hours a week across split shifts and double services, and Head Chefs at fine-dining and Michelin restaurants routinely exceed 70 hours. The Working Time Regulations 1998 cap average working time at 48 hours per week over a 17-week reference period, but workers can voluntarily opt out by signing an individual written agreement. Most senior chef contracts include or request a working-time opt-out at the point of signing. Workers retain the right to opt back in by giving seven days notice (or up to three months if specified in contract), and cannot be dismissed or treated detrimentally for refusing to opt out.

How does pay differ between pub, casual dining, hotel and Michelin restaurants?

Pub and gastropub Head Chefs earn £36,000 to £52,000 with predictable volume but lower covers per chef. Casual dining chain Head Chefs earn £38,000 to £55,000 with structured progression and HR-driven training. Hotel and branded operator Head Chefs earn £48,000 to £75,000 with multi-outlet exposure, reliable pensions and Executive Chef tier above. Mid-market brand restaurants (Hawksmoor, Roka, Hakkasan, D&D London) pay Head Chefs £55,000 to £90,000. One-Michelin London Head Chefs reach £70,000 to £120,000, and a small number of two and three-Michelin Head Chefs in London reach £100,000 to £200,000-plus with equity or partnership structures.

What pension do UK chefs get?

Most hospitality employers operate the statutory auto-enrolment minimum: 8% of qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270, made up of 5% from the employee and 3% from the employer. Hotel groups and the larger restaurant brands (IHG, Marriott, Hilton, Accor, D&D London, the Caprice Holdings group) often match higher contributions or offer salary-sacrifice arrangements that recover the 8% employer NI on the sacrificed amount. Independent and family-owned restaurants frequently sit at the statutory minimum. NHS staff catering operations have access to the NHS Pension Scheme 2015, but commercial kitchen roles do not.

Do UK chefs qualify for the Skilled Worker visa?

Yes for senior roles. Head Chef positions can be sponsored under the Skilled Worker visa subject to the relevant occupation SOC code and salary threshold (approximately £38,700 from April 2024, or the going rate for the role, whichever is higher). Commis and CDP roles below the threshold are not generally sponsorable. The Health and Care worker visa concessional route does not apply to commercial hospitality roles. Restaurant-tier permanent visas were never widely used by mid-tier chains; the Skilled Worker route is the principal sponsorship route for hospitality recruitment from overseas at senior chef level.

How does the Chef-Patron / restaurant ownership route work financially?

A Chef-Patron owns equity in the restaurant, typically through a limited company in which they hold founder shares. Income comes from a combination of salary (PAYE on the company payroll, often modest to manage NI and corporation tax) and dividends (taxed at 8.75% basic, 33.75% higher and 39.35% additional rates with a £500 dividend allowance from April 2024). Successful Chef-Patrons can earn £100,000 to £300,000-plus in mixed remuneration; unsuccessful restaurants commonly fail in the first three years with personal financial exposure if the owner has signed personal guarantees on commercial leases or supplier accounts. The capital risk and operational hours are materially greater than the employed Head Chef route.

Are chefs paid more in London than the rest of the UK?

Yes, materially so. The London uplift varies by rank: roughly £2,000 to £4,000 a year at Commis level, £4,000 to £7,000 at Chef de Partie, £8,000 to £12,000 at Sous Chef, and £15,000 to £30,000 at Head Chef. The London premium reflects both higher cost of living and the concentration of fine-dining, hotel-group and Michelin-tier restaurants paying at the top of the band. Outside London, second-tier cities (Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol, Bath, Cambridge, Brighton) pay roughly halfway between the regional and London bands at most ranks. Rural pub-and-restaurant settings typically pay at or below the regional band but may include accommodation as part of the package.

Profession: 2026/27

UK Chef Pay 2026/27

Kitchen brigade career ladder Commis through Executive Chef, restaurant tier pay deltas from pub to Michelin, Tronc and tips under the Allocation of Tips Act 2023, working-time directive opt-out, and engine-verified take-home for five canonical career steps.

Overview: brigade, tiers and the NLW anchor

Chef pay in the United Kingdom is built around two structural facts. The first is the Escoffier-derived kitchen brigade: a hierarchical rank system that runs from Kitchen Porter and Apprentice through Commis, Demi Chef de Partie, Chef de Partie, Junior Sous Chef, Sous Chef, Head Chef and Executive Chef. Each rank carries different responsibility (a Commis prepares mise en place, a CDP runs a section, a Sous Chef deputises for the Head, a Head Chef owns the menu and brigade outcome, an Executive Chef runs multiple outlets) and a roughly two to five thousand pound annual pay step at each promotion. The second is the restaurant tier: a Head Chef title means very different gross pay across a Wetherspoon pub, a Wagamama outlet, a Hilton hotel, a Hawksmoor steakhouse and a one-Michelin London restaurant. Pay can vary by £15,000 to £40,000 at the same title across tiers.

Anchoring the bottom of the structure is the National Living Wage. From 1 April 2025 the NLW is £12.21 an hour for workers aged 21 and over. Kitchen porters, apprentices and the entry tier of quick-service operators (Pret, Itsu, Leon) operate at or close to the NLW; a 36 to 38 hour week at NLW gives an annual full-time gross of approximately £22,000 to £24,000. Commis Chefs in regional pub and casual chains typically earn £1,000 to £4,000 above this floor; from CDP rank upwards the floor effect drops away and pay tracks restaurant tier and Head Chef quality assessment of the brigade. ONS ASHE data for SOC code 5434 (Chefs) shows a median full-time annual gross of approximately £25,000 in 2024, reflecting the high proportion of the workforce sitting at Commis and CDP grade in pub and casual-dining settings.

At the top of the structure, one-Michelin Head Chefs in London earn £80,000 to £120,000 and a small number of two and three-Michelin Head Chefs reach £100,000 to £200,000-plus with equity or partnership components. The Executive Chef route at hotel groups (IHG, Marriott, Hilton, Accor, Mandarin Oriental) commonly clears £100,000 at flagship properties with multiple F&B outlets. The Chef-Patron route - restaurant equity ownership through a limited company structure - offers the highest upside (£200,000 to £500,000-plus at successful sites) and the largest downside (a substantial proportion of new restaurants close within three years, with the founder exposed where they have signed personal guarantees on commercial leases or supplier accounts). The middle of the range, where most career chefs work, sits at Sous Chef and Head Chef in regional pub, hotel and casual-dining settings at £32,000 to £65,000.

Brigade career ladder: regional vs London pay

All figures are annual gross base pay before tronc / service-charge supplements. Regional ranges reflect typical pay across the UK outside the M25, observed across The Caterer salary survey, UKHospitality member-reported figures and direct employer postings. London ranges reflect Greater London employer postings and exclude the very top of fine dining (which is broken out separately in the Restaurant tier section below).

Rank	Regional gross	London gross	Notes
Apprentice / Kitchen Porter	£21,000-£23,500	£23,000-£25,500	National Living Wage anchored at £12.21/hr from April 2025. Kitchen porters, wash-up, prep apprentices.
Commis Chef (year 1-2)	£22,000-£26,000	£25,000-£30,000	First trained kitchen role. Plating support, mise en place, basic section work under a CDP.
Demi Chef de Partie	£25,000-£30,000	£28,000-£35,000	Section deputy, runs a section under guidance of the Chef de Partie. Bridge role to CDP.
Chef de Partie (CDP)	£28,000-£35,000	£32,000-£42,000	Runs an entire section (sauce, larder, pastry, fish, grill). Backbone of the brigade.
Junior Sous Chef	£30,000-£38,000	£36,000-£46,000	Second deputy to Head Chef. Often called "Second Chef" in pub and hotel kitchens.
Sous Chef	£32,000-£45,000	£40,000-£55,000	Deputy Head Chef. Manages the brigade in the Head Chef's absence, orders, costing, rota.
Senior Sous Chef (mid-fine-dining)	£42,000-£52,000	£50,000-£70,000	Top of Sous tier in mid-market and Michelin kitchens; effective number two operationally.
Head Chef	£40,000-£65,000	£55,000-£90,000	Owns the menu, costing, brigade, and food quality outcome. Single-unit accountability.
Head Chef (1-Michelin London)	£55,000-£75,000	£80,000-£120,000	One-star fine-dining Head Chef; base often supplemented by service-charge / tronc share.
Executive Chef (multi-site / hotel)	£60,000-£90,000	£70,000-£120,000+	Multi-outlet Hotel or Restaurant Group lead chef; senior management role with P&L responsibility.
Executive Chef (top hotel groups, large estate)	£90,000-£140,000	£110,000-£180,000	IHG / Marriott / Mandarin Oriental flagship property; multiple F&B outlets, 50+ kitchen brigade.
Chef-Patron / Restaurateur	£40,000-£200,000+	£60,000-£300,000+	Equity ownership in the restaurant. Returns conditional on commercial success; significant downside risk.

Source: The Caterer employment and pay reporting, UKHospitality member intelligence, and ONS ASHE Table 14 SOC code 5434 Chefs. Retrieved 2026-05-23.

Restaurant tier impact on chef pay

The same title means materially different pay across restaurant tiers. A Head Chef at a Wetherspoon pub kitchen and a Head Chef at a one-Michelin London restaurant share the title but sit £30,000 to £60,000 apart on base gross, with further variation on tronc and service-charge share, accommodation packages and bonus arrangements. Tier choice is the single largest pay lever for a career chef beyond rank progression. The table below shows representative gross ranges at CDP, Sous Chef and Head Chef level for each tier.

Restaurant tier	Chef de Partie	Sous Chef	Head Chef	Notes
Quick service / fast casual (Pret, Itsu, Leon)	n/a	£26,000-£32,000	£32,000-£42,000	No traditional brigade; "Kitchen Manager" or "Head of Kitchen" labels common. Anchored close to NLW for line cooks.
Pub / Gastropub (Greene King, Mitchells & Butlers, Wetherspoon)	£26,000-£32,000	£30,000-£40,000	£36,000-£52,000	Entry into the brigade ladder. Volume-driven; lower covers-per-chef ratio than fine dining.
Casual dining chains (Wagamama, Pizza Express, Bill's, Nando's)	£27,000-£33,000	£32,000-£42,000	£38,000-£55,000	Structured pay bands, defined progression, HR-driven training. Often the most predictable career path.
Hotel / Branded (IHG, Marriott, Hilton, Accor)	£30,000-£38,000	£36,000-£50,000	£48,000-£75,000	Multi-outlet hotels; Executive Chef tier above. Reliable pension, structured benefits, banqueting volume.
Mid-market / Brand restaurants (Hawksmoor, Roka, Hakkasan, D&D)	£32,000-£40,000	£42,000-£58,000	£55,000-£90,000	Quality-driven independent and small group restaurants. Strong CDP and Sous pay; head chefs lead a flagship site.
Fine-dining (1-Michelin or Michelin-aspirant in London)	£32,000-£42,000	£45,000-£70,000	£70,000-£120,000	Higher cover spend per head, stronger reputational pull, often higher tronc / service-charge share.
Top-tier fine-dining (2 / 3 Michelin in London)	£36,000-£48,000	£55,000-£85,000	£100,000-£200,000+	A handful of restaurants in London. Head Chef pay varies widely; equity / partnership in some cases.

A practical career strategy for the highest base pay is to climb the brigade rapidly in casual dining or hotel chains (structured progression, defined competencies, lower personal risk) and then make a lateral move to mid-market or fine dining at Sous Chef or Junior Sous rank. The mid-market and fine-dining tiers pay a meaningful premium at Sous and Head Chef level but typically expect the candidate to arrive already fully formed at CDP-level technique. Quick-service operators (Pret, Itsu, Leon) and the lower end of pub kitchens sit close to the NLW for line cooks; pay rises sharply once the operator moves to a true brigade structure.

Source: The Caterer employment and pay reporting cross-checked against direct employer postings on Caterer.com and indeed.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-05-23.

Tronc, service charge and the Allocation of Tips Act 2023

A material proportion of working chef income, especially at mid-market and fine-dining tier, comes from service charge and tips rather than base salary. The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 came into force on 1 October 2024 and fundamentally changed how restaurants must handle this revenue. The Act requires employers to pass 100% of qualifying tips, gratuities and service charges to workers fairly, without retaining any portion to cover card-processing fees, breakages, kitchen consumables or general overheads. A statutory Code of Practice on Fair and Transparent Distribution of Tips sets out how the fair-allocation requirement is to be operationalised, and gives the right to a written allocation policy at every site.

The tax and National Insurance treatment of tip income depends on how it reaches the worker. Cash tips received directly from a customer are taxable as employment income and are typically declared by the worker via a PAYE coding adjustment or Self Assessment if material. Card tips and discretionary service charge that are pooled and distributed through a tronc scheme are paid through PAYE on the regular monthly payslip. The critical NI distinction: if the tronc is operated by an independent troncmaster (typically a senior front-of-house team member or an external tronc-administration service) and the employer plays no part in deciding how tronc funds are allocated, the tronc payments are exempt from both employee and employer Class 1 National Insurance contributions. This is one of the few NI-free routes still available in the UK pay system. If the employer controls the tronc distribution, full Class 1 NI applies as on ordinary pay.

For chef pay calculation: tronc income is treated as ordinary employment income for Income Tax purposes (deducted under PAYE in the month received), but the NI exemption can be worth 8% on the band between the Primary Threshold and the Upper Earnings Limit and 2% above. For a Sous Chef on £45,000 base salary receiving £8,000 of tronc through an independent troncmaster, the NI saving compared with the same £8,000 paid as ordinary salary is roughly £640 a year on the employee side, plus a further £1,200 employer NI saving (which often returns to the worker via a higher tronc allocation percentage). The Code of Practice requires the allocation policy to be transparent and reviewable; chefs negotiating a senior role should ask explicitly about both the base pay and the tronc share structure.

Detailed calculation of after-tax tronc income, including the independent-troncmaster NI scenarios and the PAYE worked example, is covered in our tronc and tips tax guide. The full statutory text is at the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023; the operational guidance is the gov.uk Code of Practice on Fair and Transparent Distribution of Tips; HMRC's authoritative tax guidance is E24 Tips, Gratuities, Service Charges and Troncs. Retrieved 2026-05-23.

Take-home matrix: five canonical scenarios

Figures below apply the 2026/27 England tax bands to five canonical chef pay levels: a Commis Chef at the NLW-anchored £24,000, a Chef de Partie at £32,000, a London Sous Chef at £48,000, a London Head Chef at £75,000, and an Executive Chef at £110,000 (inside the Personal Allowance taper). Auto-enrolment 5% employee pension contribution is applied uniformly to make the cross-comparison clean. Computed from our HMRC-verified salary engine.

Scenario	Gross	Income Tax	NI	Pension	Annual take-home	Monthly
Commis Chef (NLW-anchored) First trained kitchen role. NLW £12.21/hr at roughly 38 hr/wk x 52 weeks. Auto-enrolment 5% pension.	£24,000	£2,046	£818	£1,200 (5.0%)	£19,936	£1,661
Chef de Partie (regional) Runs a section in a casual dining or mid-market kitchen. Auto-enrolment 5% pension.	£32,000	£3,566	£1,426	£1,600 (5.0%)	£25,408	£2,117
Sous Chef (London) Deputy Head Chef at a London mid-market or hotel restaurant. Auto-enrolment 5% pension.	£48,000	£6,606	£2,642	£2,400 (5.0%)	£36,352	£3,029
Head Chef (London) Head Chef at a London restaurant or hotel outlet. Auto-enrolment 5% pension applied.	£75,000	£15,932	£3,436	£3,750 (5.0%)	£51,882	£4,324
Executive Chef (60% trap zone) Multi-site or hotel group Executive Chef. Personal Allowance taper between £100k and £125,140.	£110,000	£30,132	£4,101	£5,500 (5.0%)	£70,267	£5,856

The Commis Chef on £24,000 keeps £19,936 of gross after Income Tax at 20% on the slice above £12,570, Class 1 NI at 8% above the Primary Threshold, and the 5% auto-enrolment pension contribution. The Head Chef London on £75,000 sits comfortably inside the 40% higher rate but below the £100,000 taper, with effective tax (Income Tax plus NI plus pension) of approximately 36% of gross. The Executive Chef on £110,000 sits inside the £100,000 to £125,140 Personal Allowance taper - every additional pound between those thresholds is effectively taxed at 60% (40% Income Tax + 20% taper-driven loss of Personal Allowance), so the bracket is the single largest argument for additional salary-sacrifice pension contribution at this pay level.

Working hours and the 48-hour opt-out

Professional kitchen hours are among the longest of any UK skilled-trade occupation. Working patterns vary by tier but the modal experience at Sous Chef and Head Chef level is a 50 to 70 hour week worked across split shifts (a prep shift from late morning through the lunch service, a break in the afternoon, and a long evening service through to clean-down at midnight or later). Five days a week at this intensity is standard; some Michelin and fine-dining brigades run six-day weeks during peak season. The split-shift pattern in particular means total daily hours can easily reach twelve to fourteen even when the contractual figure looks closer to forty.

The Working Time Regulations 1998 (UK implementation of the EU Working Time Directive) cap average working time at 48 hours per week measured over a 17-week rolling reference period. Workers can voluntarily opt out by signing an individual written agreement to disapply the 48-hour limit. Most senior chef contracts include or request a 48-hour opt-out at signing. The right to opt out is genuinely voluntary as a matter of law - the worker can retract the opt-out by giving seven days notice (or up to three months notice if the contract specifies a longer notice period for retraction), and cannot lawfully be dismissed or subjected to detrimental treatment for refusing to sign the opt-out. In practice the opt-out is treated by most kitchens as a condition of senior employment, and refusal is rare.

The opt-out does not remove the statutory rest breaks: 20 minutes break for shifts over six hours, an 11-hour daily rest period between shifts, and 24 hours of rest in any seven days (or 48 hours in any fourteen). Night workers (any worker whose normal hours include at least three between 11pm and 6am) retain the statutory cap of 8 hours average per 24-hour period and the right to free health assessment. Daily and weekly rest can be averaged through collective or workforce agreements in hospitality, which is how most kitchens structure compliance with the longer evening services. The Health and Safety Executive enforces the rest provisions; the employer-records requirement was simplified in 2023 (under the Retained EU Law Act consultation) but remains a meaningful compliance touchpoint at HMRC and HSE audit.

Career progression: worked example

A typical UK chef career runs Apprentice or Kitchen Porter at year zero, Commis Chef at year one or two, Chef de Partie at year three to five, Sous Chef at year six to ten, Head Chef at year ten to fifteen, and Executive Chef at year fifteen-plus in a multi-outlet operator. Each step takes one to four years and brings a £3,000 to £8,000 annual gross uplift at the regional tier; in London and at higher restaurant tiers the steps can be larger. The worked example below uses England 2026/27 rates with 0% pension for cross-comparability across the ladder; auto-enrolment 5% would apply at every step in practice.

Career step	Gross	Income Tax	NI	Annual take-home	Monthly
Apprentice / Kitchen Porter	£23,000	£2,086	£834	£20,080	£1,673
Commis Chef	£26,000	£2,686	£1,074	£22,240	£1,853
Chef de Partie	£33,000	£4,086	£1,634	£27,280	£2,273
Sous Chef (regional)	£40,000	£5,486	£2,194	£32,320	£2,693
Head Chef (regional)	£55,000	£9,432	£3,111	£42,457	£3,538
Executive Chef (hotel group)	£95,000	£25,432	£3,911	£65,657	£5,471

The Apprentice to Commis step adds £3,000 gross / £2,160 take-home. The CDP to Sous step adds £7,000 gross / £5,040 take-home, with the Sous Chef figure passing the higher-rate threshold so the marginal pound is taxed at 40%. The Head Chef to Executive Chef step adds £40,000 gross / £23,200 take-home; the smaller take-home ratio reflects the 40% higher-rate band and the additional employee NI of 2% above the Upper Earnings Limit. The combined progression from kitchen porter to Executive Chef lifts annual take-home by £45,578, but realistically takes fifteen to twenty years of unbroken kitchen service and a successful move from operational to multi-site management.

The Chef-Patron route: ownership, structure and risk

Above Head Chef rank the natural career inflection point for ambitious chefs is the Chef-Patron route: opening a restaurant in which the chef holds equity, typically through founder shares in a limited company. The financial structure is fundamentally different from the employed Head Chef role. The Chef-Patron's income is a combination of (a) salary from the company, paid via PAYE and subject to Income Tax and Class 1 employee NI in the normal way, and (b) dividends from company post-tax profits, taxed at 8.75% basic, 33.75% higher and 39.35% additional rates with a £500 dividend allowance from April 2024. A typical structure is a modest director salary (around £12,570 to match the Personal Allowance threshold, sometimes higher to qualify for State Pension contributions) plus dividend distributions of post-corporation-tax profit at the small profits rate (19%) or main rate (25%) depending on company size.

The upside of this route is substantial. A successful single-site restaurant in London at mid-market or higher tier with a £1.5 million to £3 million annual revenue and a 10% to 15% EBITDA margin can return £150,000 to £450,000 to the founder Chef-Patron in mixed salary and dividends in good years. A small group of two to four restaurants substantially expands the upside if the operator can hold margin while replicating. The most successful Chef-Patrons (a small number of restaurateurs with sustained Michelin recognition and multi-site groups) earn into the seven figures in good years. The dividend rate (39.35% top) combined with corporation tax (25% main rate) gives a combined effective marginal rate of approximately 54.5% on additional-rate dividend income from a main-rate company, which is higher than the 47% PAYE top marginal rate but with the substantial advantage of the timing flexibility and the capital gains route on eventual sale.

The downside is real. New restaurant failure rates in the UK are historically high; industry estimates from UKHospitality and trade press place the three-year survival rate for new independent restaurants at roughly 40% to 55%. A failed restaurant exposes the Chef-Patron to (a) loss of founder equity (typically the £100,000 to £300,000 of initial capital introduced), (b) personal guarantee exposure where the founder has signed PGs on commercial leases, supplier credit accounts or commercial loans, and (c) reputational and career impact that can make the return to an employed Head Chef role harder. A common risk-managed structure is to retain the Head Chef role at an employer for the first two to three years of the restaurant's life (where lease and supplier risk is bearable on a smaller scale) and to transition to full Chef-Patron only after the venue proves commercially viable; in practice the operational demands of opening a serious restaurant generally preclude maintaining a separate employed role beyond the pre-opening phase.

Comparison vs similar roles

Cross-sector comparison at the entry to mid-range chef gross level (£23,000 to £75,000). Care worker, retail and Civil Service Administrative Officer rows show the NLW-anchored cluster the bottom of the kitchen brigade competes with for talent; bus driver shows the mid-range public-transport comparison; Head Chef London at the top of the cluster shows the upside.

Role	Gross	Take-home	Monthly	Notes
Kitchen Porter / Apprentice (this page)	£23,000	£20,080	£1,673	NLW £12.21/hr at 36 hr/wk x 52 weeks; entry kitchen role.
Care worker (NLW)	£23,000	£20,080	£1,673	NLW care assistant; see /professions/care-worker.
Retail assistant (NLW)	£23,000	£20,080	£1,673	Tesco / Sainsbury / Aldi NLW retail role.
Commis Chef (this page)	£26,000	£22,240	£1,853	Trained first kitchen role; first step on the brigade.
Bus driver (mid)	£32,000	£26,560	£2,213	PCV Cat D; outside-London average; see /professions/bus-driver.
Chef de Partie (this page)	£33,000	£27,280	£2,273	CDP running a section in a mid-market kitchen.
Civil Service AO (national)	£26,500	£22,600	£1,883	AO national grade; broadly NLW-band public sector clerical.
Head Chef London (this page)	£75,000	£54,057	£4,505	Single-unit Head Chef in London at a mid-market restaurant.

Where chef pay differs sharply from comparable NLW-anchored roles is the upside trajectory. A Kitchen Porter on £23,000 and a Retail Assistant on £23,000 keep the same take-home, but their five-year and ten-year career destinations diverge substantially: the trained chef route opens £40,000 to £55,000 by year five at CDP / Sous Chef rank in a regional kitchen and £75,000 to £90,000 by year ten at Head Chef in a London restaurant. The retail equivalent typically tops out at £30,000 to £40,000 as a store or area manager. Where chef pay disadvantages the worker is the working-hours intensity: the £45,000 Sous Chef working 60 hours a week earns an effective hourly rate (£14.42) only modestly above the Care Team Leader on £30,000 working 37 hours (£15.59). Hours-adjusted comparison is essential when comparing chef pay against other career paths.

Care worker pay - NLW-anchored social care and NHS HCA Bands 2 to 4.
Bus driver pay - PCV Cat D, TfL and major regional groups, Sunday and night premium.
Civil servant pay - AA to SCS4 grade ladder for the AO comparison.
HGV driver pay - Cat C and C+E tiers, tramping subsistence, ADR specialist rates.
Tronc and tips tax - PAYE-only NI-exempt tronc mechanics under the Allocation of Tips Act 2023.
All UK professions - browse the full directory.
Hourly rate calculator - convert any hourly rate to annual take-home, including 2026/27 NLW and NMW rates.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a UK chef earn in 2026/27?: A Commis Chef (the first trained kitchen role) earns £22,000 to £26,000 regional and £25,000 to £30,000 in London. A Chef de Partie running a section earns £28,000 to £35,000 regional and £32,000 to £42,000 in London. Sous Chefs earn £32,000 to £45,000 regional and £40,000 to £55,000 in London. Head Chefs earn £40,000 to £65,000 regional and £55,000 to £90,000 in London, with one-Michelin London Head Chefs reaching £80,000 to £120,000. Executive Chefs at hotel groups commonly earn £70,000 to £120,000 with the largest estates paying £150,000-plus.
What is the kitchen brigade and how does pay progress through it?: The UK kitchen brigade follows the Escoffier-derived structure of Apprentice / Kitchen Porter (NLW anchor), Commis Chef (year one and two trained), Demi Chef de Partie, Chef de Partie (CDP, runs a section), Junior Sous Chef, Sous Chef (deputy head), Head Chef and Executive Chef (multi-site or hotel). Each step is one to three years of progression and adds roughly £3,000 to £8,000 of gross. Above Executive Chef the route is Chef-Patron (restaurant equity ownership) or larger consultancy roles. Pay at each step varies by restaurant tier - a Sous Chef in a Wetherspoon kitchen and a Sous Chef in a one-Michelin London restaurant can be £15,000 to £25,000 apart on base.
How does the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 affect chef pay?: The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 came into force on 1 October 2024. It requires employers to pass 100% of qualifying tips, gratuities and service charges to workers fairly, without making deductions other than necessary tax. Service charge income, when distributed through a tronc, is paid under PAYE but is exempt from employee and employer National Insurance contributions provided the tronc is operated by an independent troncmaster and the employer plays no part in deciding allocations. For most chefs this materially increases the share of service-charge revenue that lands in their bank account compared with pre-October 2024 arrangements, where some employers retained a portion to cover card-processing fees or kitchen consumables.
Are tips and service charge income taxed for chefs?: Yes, tips and service charge income are taxable as employment income. Cash tips received directly from customers are taxable and should be declared by the worker through PAYE adjustment or Self Assessment. Tips paid via card or service charge that are pooled and distributed through a tronc scheme are paid through PAYE; if the troncmaster is independent of the employer the tronc payments are exempt from National Insurance for both employee and employer, which is one of the few NI savings still available in the UK pay system. If the employer controls the tronc distribution, NI applies in full as on ordinary pay.
How long are chef working hours, and what is the working time directive opt-out?: Professional kitchen hours are long: a Sous Chef in a serious kitchen typically works 50 to 70 hours a week across split shifts and double services, and Head Chefs at fine-dining and Michelin restaurants routinely exceed 70 hours. The Working Time Regulations 1998 cap average working time at 48 hours per week over a 17-week reference period, but workers can voluntarily opt out by signing an individual written agreement. Most senior chef contracts include or request a working-time opt-out at the point of signing. Workers retain the right to opt back in by giving seven days notice (or up to three months if specified in contract), and cannot be dismissed or treated detrimentally for refusing to opt out.
How does pay differ between pub, casual dining, hotel and Michelin restaurants?: Pub and gastropub Head Chefs earn £36,000 to £52,000 with predictable volume but lower covers per chef. Casual dining chain Head Chefs earn £38,000 to £55,000 with structured progression and HR-driven training. Hotel and branded operator Head Chefs earn £48,000 to £75,000 with multi-outlet exposure, reliable pensions and Executive Chef tier above. Mid-market brand restaurants (Hawksmoor, Roka, Hakkasan, D&D London) pay Head Chefs £55,000 to £90,000. One-Michelin London Head Chefs reach £70,000 to £120,000, and a small number of two and three-Michelin Head Chefs in London reach £100,000 to £200,000-plus with equity or partnership structures.
What pension do UK chefs get?: Most hospitality employers operate the statutory auto-enrolment minimum: 8% of qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270, made up of 5% from the employee and 3% from the employer. Hotel groups and the larger restaurant brands (IHG, Marriott, Hilton, Accor, D&D London, the Caprice Holdings group) often match higher contributions or offer salary-sacrifice arrangements that recover the 8% employer NI on the sacrificed amount. Independent and family-owned restaurants frequently sit at the statutory minimum. NHS staff catering operations have access to the NHS Pension Scheme 2015, but commercial kitchen roles do not.
Do UK chefs qualify for the Skilled Worker visa?: Yes for senior roles. Head Chef positions can be sponsored under the Skilled Worker visa subject to the relevant occupation SOC code and salary threshold (approximately £38,700 from April 2024, or the going rate for the role, whichever is higher). Commis and CDP roles below the threshold are not generally sponsorable. The Health and Care worker visa concessional route does not apply to commercial hospitality roles. Restaurant-tier permanent visas were never widely used by mid-tier chains; the Skilled Worker route is the principal sponsorship route for hospitality recruitment from overseas at senior chef level.
How does the Chef-Patron / restaurant ownership route work financially?: A Chef-Patron owns equity in the restaurant, typically through a limited company in which they hold founder shares. Income comes from a combination of salary (PAYE on the company payroll, often modest to manage NI and corporation tax) and dividends (taxed at 8.75% basic, 33.75% higher and 39.35% additional rates with a £500 dividend allowance from April 2024). Successful Chef-Patrons can earn £100,000 to £300,000-plus in mixed remuneration; unsuccessful restaurants commonly fail in the first three years with personal financial exposure if the owner has signed personal guarantees on commercial leases or supplier accounts. The capital risk and operational hours are materially greater than the employed Head Chef route.
Are chefs paid more in London than the rest of the UK?: Yes, materially so. The London uplift varies by rank: roughly £2,000 to £4,000 a year at Commis level, £4,000 to £7,000 at Chef de Partie, £8,000 to £12,000 at Sous Chef, and £15,000 to £30,000 at Head Chef. The London premium reflects both higher cost of living and the concentration of fine-dining, hotel-group and Michelin-tier restaurants paying at the top of the band. Outside London, second-tier cities (Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol, Bath, Cambridge, Brighton) pay roughly halfway between the regional and London bands at most ranks. Rural pub-and-restaurant settings typically pay at or below the regional band but may include accommodation as part of the package.

Sources

The Caterer - Employment and pay reporting Retrieved 2026-05-23
UKHospitality - Industry body for hospitality businesses Retrieved 2026-05-23
Unite Hospitality - Hospitality branch of Unite the Union Retrieved 2026-05-23
ONS ASHE Table 14 - Occupational pay by SOC 2020 code (SOC 5434 Chefs) Retrieved 2026-05-23
gov.uk - National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates Retrieved 2026-05-23
HMRC E24 - Tips, Gratuities, Service Charges and Troncs Retrieved 2026-05-23
Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 - Statutory text Retrieved 2026-05-23
gov.uk - Code of Practice on Fair and Transparent Distribution of Tips Retrieved 2026-05-23
HMRC - Rates and thresholds for employers 2026/27 Retrieved 2026-05-23
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