line cook

cleaner

Ess-Compass

I worked under compass for almost two years, and I have a strongly mixed review. 
I worked on a RAF base (IP31). The job was almost always stressful, we were understaffed for the two years I was there, and I hear now that they are still in no better of a position because they couldn't keep any new staff. 

I was employed as a CSA but without my knowledge, this role included daily food preparation, pot washing, deep cleaning of the FOH and BOH, as well as serving customers on EPOS systems (often alone or with two staff) during very busy service times. 
 It was very poorly advertised and I was not pleased but needed the money being 17 years old at the time, and out of education. 

I took my contract of 32 hours a week (MON-THUR) and that was completely manipulated to suit their needs. I would work up to 52 hours a normal week due to their 'working weeks' being from thurs-thurs. 
I also stated for my contract that I could not be doing early starts as I can not drive, but I was consistently put on multiple 5am starts every week?? 
My holiday applications were almost always ignored until last minute, and on sick days, other staff would say that they would ridicule you behind your back, only to make you work harder and longer hours when you come back from being ill. 

A manipulative company, with bad management, and little care for their employees. Employees were worked like mules so the higher-ups can watch while they sit in the office and chat with snacks and coffee. 

However, I must grudgingly notice the progression opportunities. I had been working with ESS/Compass for a year and found myself promoted from the CSA to the CSA Supervisor role. It was a great learning curve and was great for my individual progression.  However, the supervisor who trained me, was very passive. They refused to train me up to standard because of their ego, which left me in multiple tough positions with employees and customers. 

I am a strong willed person, with quite a tough skin but I still reached a breaking point working there. 
The staff were the only reason I had stayed for that long. With a lot of downtime, you really build strong, family like connections with the other staff. The only enjoyable parts of the day were having a 30 minute break with the other staff on shift, or chatting to the customers. 

A typical day at work started with being shafted from minute 1… it didn’t matter how many people you were cooking for, you were on your own 99% of the time doing the work of 2 or 3 chefs on your own, and no one seemed to care!
Way too much work for the number of staff they had, the staff turnover has been unbelievable since Compass Group/ESS have had the contract at the Grantham Army barracks.
They expect you to do all the overtime under the sun aswell and you don’t get any thanks for it at all, nothing is ever good enough for anyone.
Promised me every other weekend off as sous chef when I first started and I didn’t get a single one for quite a few years! After years of complaining about it they finally agreed to give me 2 weekends off a month, but even then I was very lucky to get 1!
The management and the executive chefs are intimidating and very rude, I literally have zero positive things to say about Compass Group/ESS and I’m usually a very positive person. 


My typical day at work would consist of setting up breakfast counters at 6am, making sure all other stations are ready to go for 6am service. Once service finishes i would then clean down all counters and start getting the dining hall ready for the next service(lunch). This would include bringing up stores and putting them away, cleaning different areas within the building so its a tidy and safe place to work. In my personnel opinion you very rarely see management and if you ever have any questions they would always try to avoid answering them. my co-workers where great people to work with, very friendly and we all worked well as a team, if i had any problems i never felt afraid to ask. The hardest part of the job i would say, their is no hard parts and i think this is why i needed to move on because its not very challenging. The most enjoyable part of my job would be being able to please people and meeting new people all the time.

Awful place to work. No staff so the kitchen is always filthy bins let filled for days.
Very bad pay you lose 50p a hour of the advertised rate to pay for your own holiday.
Management attitude when you raise a concern is "it is what it is " before walking of.
Kitchen team is great but under so much stress.
Awful food the produce come in mouldy most of the time.
So so much waste.
Over ordered milk for example which goes out of date is frozen then re-used.
Food at the end of lunch is thrown away if staff want some leftovers they have to pay for it.
No hand sanitizer anywhere near the kitchen.
We have lost 70% of work force since Easter with more going all the time.

Wow this is one of the worst companies I have ever worked for ,there is no work life balance,they rota you on ,8-9 days in a row and say well it's 2 different weeks has there week runs Thursday to Wednesday ,yep weird,don't tell you about the split shifts until they need to do them ,you be lucky to get a am shift at all unless they need you on it as the y as there preference to who does it. One of the managers is a absolute c*** there is no reasoning with this person what so ever , and the food that is served to these working men/women is absolutely atrocious, wouldn't feed it to my dog ,it was absolutely embarrassing serving this food to full grown working personall 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Some of the staff were nice. The job was not too difficult

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Not having sufficient training .


What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Some co workers are nice. But some can be very clicky.
the management is very poor, procedures are not adhered to . Despite the company describing and promoting wellbeing, and inclusivity, this is not reflected with management. 
Despite disclosing disabilities , was faced with immediate disaplinary action  because of performace related to disablities. no accountablity or responsibility

What is the best part of working at the company?
They seemed to be busy with contracts

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Lazy people are rewarded. Hard workers are treated badly

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Pretty good and enjoyable, good onsite management. Issues seem to stem at the main office and where politics come into play

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Hard work but enjoyable. Pretty much depending which insulation your working on

The management structure within the site I worked at were only looking out for themselves and their friends, if you had any issues they wouldn’t get resolved. 

When the issue is your management and you complain to HR they send to the site manager to sort out who then takes issue with you because according to their actions you have no rite to complain or have a voice for the company. 

There is no progression within the company unless you say nothing about any issues and a friends with the management. 




Good hours but chaos. Don’t give you the hours you need to the job but are on your case when your jobs are not completed. Expect 1 person to run an entire kitchen. Prep, cook, clean, washing up all dishes, ordering, stock checks, wastage, paperwork, function costings & creating menus for functions. Far too much for 1 person but they refuse to recruit help. Better hours than any other chef job I have ever worked but disorganisation & lack of help lets this company down. Senior management/executives have no idea what we are up against.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The people you interact with and help as part of your job

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The line managers and low pay below minimum wage 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Nice work environment but the work culture is very ‘ clicky’ and it’s very much who you know and whether your face fits

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Line cook 1 salary reported	£12.50 per hour
Cleaner 1 salary reported	£12.98 per hour

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