We get asked this a lot, usually by an operator who's worried we only work with big-name CBD venues, or a candidate who's worried we won't look outside the inner city. Neither is true. We're a Melbourne-based hospitality recruitment team, and most of our placements are Melbourne restaurants, hotels and venue groups, but geography has never been the thing that decides whether we take on a search.
Where most of our work actually happens
Day to day, the bulk of our placements sit across inner and bayside Melbourne: CBD dining rooms, neighbourhood bistros in Albert Park and Camberwell, rooftop bars, pub groups, and multi-venue hospitality companies with two or three sites across the city. That's where our network is deepest, because it's where we've spent twenty years working ourselves, first as operators, now as recruiters.
Regional Victoria and beyond
We also work regional searches, and they're often some of our favourite briefs. A regional venue looking for a Head Chef or General Manager usually has a harder time attracting senior candidates than a CBD venue does, simply because fewer recruiters bother reaching into regional markets properly. We do, because the operational challenges of running a venue in regional Victoria, staffing, supply chains, seasonality, are exactly the kind of thing our background is built for.
And nationally, when it's the right fit
We take on roles across Australia when the brief is a good fit for us. That usually means one of two things: either it's a senior enough role that it justifies a national search, a General Manager or Executive Chef appointment where the right candidate might currently be interstate, or it's a venue group we already have a relationship with expanding into a new state. We're not trying to be a national recruiter with generic reach everywhere. We'd rather do a smaller number of interstate searches properly than spread ourselves thin chasing volume.
What decides whether we take on a search
The real filter isn't a postcode, it's whether we can actually do the search justice. Do we understand the type of venue? Can we reach the calibre of candidate the role needs? Is the brief senior enough that our operator-led approach adds real value, rather than just running a generic ad and hoping? If the answer's yes, location is rarely the thing that stops us.
If you're weighing up whether we cover your area, the fastest way to find out is just to brief the role and tell us where the venue is. We'll be straight with you if it's outside what we can do well.