CKA, one of the Craft Guild of Chefs business partners, is marking the milestone with an expansion into bigger premises on Fleet Street in the City of London, plus a new corporate identity with fresh logos and a new user-friendly website.

Director Martyn Smith, who has been with the company for 13 years, said the business had gone from primarily focusing on chef placements to sourcing permanent, high calibre management, culinary, sales and events and support personnel across the hospitality industry.

“Competition has become fierce in the last 15 years and companies have increasingly looked to specialists to find personnel that meet their exact needs,” said Smith, who originally trained as a chef with Hilton Hotels before moving into contract catering, then recruitment.

“We have over 80 years combined recruitment experience across the team which includes director and former chef Gary King and associate director Richard Foster Thorn, a former maitre d’ for Gordon Ramsay restaurants. We have evolved from being primarily a chef recruitment agency to a multi-disciplined company which also sources key management and events personnel for a wide range of clients including award-winning restaurants, five-star hotels, contract caterers and event companies.

“Over the next 15 years, we aim to strengthen the distinctive services we offer even further and branch out into new markets and hospitality sectors, both nationally and internationally.”

In addition to being a Craft Guild of Chefs business partner, CKA is also a member of many key industry bodies including the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, Arena, Association of Catering Excellence, and the Institute of Hospitality.

The team attends regular networking events, industry functions and awards dinners to foster relationships with the key decision makers across the hospitality industry and prides itself on delivering the highest standards of service to clients and candidates.