With up to 500 catering job vacancies open at any one time, Suffolk is far from the region with the most opportunities in the catering industry. With no Michelin starred restaurants in the area, it cannot claim to be a focal point for the catering industry, but Suffolk is an area where quality of life and, just as importantly, quality of produce can be factors in persuading job applicants to search for employment in the area. With a strong heritage in agriculture catering businesses are able to source fresh food from local suppliers with relative ease.
While Ipswich is the largest city in the region it is Southwold which is home to the greatest number of catering opportunities – ranging from commis chefs to waiting staff and hotel managers to bartenders and pot washers. The average salary in Suffolk is slightly lower than the national average of £22,000 at nearer £20,000 – although many of the entry level roles advertised through recruitment agencies such as pot washing are paid on an hourly basis with no fixed contracts. As is to be expected in this sector, staff must work hard for their salaries across long hours – often on evenings and weekends when catering establishments do the majority of their trade.