Edinburgh restaurant 21212 to move to a four-day working week

Restaurant 21212 to adopt a four-day working week to provide staff with a better work-life balance.

• Find out more about Paul Kitching
• How are chefs and hospitality workers dealing with stress in the workplace?
• Read the original article on The Scotsman

21212 co-owner and chef, Paul Kitching is set to introduce a four-day working week for his team of 20 in a bid to ‘put the team’s work-life balance first’.

Speaking to The Scotsman, he said: “This is a tough industry and we thrive on the energy and passion behind our chefs. We are about constant innovation and re-invention of dishes and the creativity needed for this is incredibly important.

"We believe that by reducing our days that this creativity will grow, and we will be able to push our menu and dishes to another level. I am really looking forward to the future and to see how this change is going to see our restaurant flourish further.”

"The accommodation part of the business will continue to be open seven days a week and Paul is adamant that the working hours' changes are by no means ‘a way of scaling back’."

He added: “Reducing our days...is a way for us to improve and grow further as we reach our tenth year on the Royal Terrace. this change comes at a brilliant time for us as we have just received our Michelin star for the ninth consecutive year.”

21212 is one of a growing collection of restaurants that are moving to a four-day week with the likes of Sat Bains being pivotal in implementing this change back in November 2015.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) released a report last month which called for the four-day working week to be adopted across the UK, with general secretary Frances O’Grady stating that technological advances should mean that ‘employees receive the same level of pay for working a shorter week’.