We’re exceptionally proud to announce that we’ve made our first acquisition.

We’ve acquired the culinary recruitment agency PBL Chefs so that we can offer many more highly skilled chefs to hospitality and events employers. Founded and run by former chef Phil Houlihan, PBL Chefs has operated for a number of years and grown to become a well regarded organisation, providing staff for venues such as the Hurlingham Club, Delaware North and Mews of Mayfair. Houlihan joins Syft as Chef Director, where his extensive background and industry insights will be crucial to achieve future successes; Houlihan brings along his team as part of the deal, which consists of a cash and shares-based arrangement (the full terms are not being disclosed at this time).

As a result of recent events, Syft now boasts over 1000 chefs based across the UK, working in roles such as Food Prep Assistant, Commis Chef, Chef de Partie, Sous Chef, Lead Chef and Head Chef. The newly-joined chefs will benefit from higher pay, perks, loads of new shift opportunities and the convenience of app technology.

Left to right: Jack Beaman, Phil Houlihan and Novo Abakare

Syft Co-Founder & CEO Jack Beaman said, “We are really excited to bring Phil and his team over to Syft. We have worked with Phil for a year, so we are confident in his skills and the chefs he has working for him. Phil’s clients and chefs love him and his team, and we plan to achieve a lot more success together. We are planning on investing heavily in chefs this year; our first priority is to ensure all the chefs we have get an increase in pay as well as the 200 perks all our workers at Syft benefit from.”

Phil Houlihan added, “We have formed a great working partnership over the last couple of years, which has now been solidified as we aim to expand as one team. We share the same vision for how technology is changing the staffing industry and in particular driving up wages for workers. It was a big decision for me and wasn’t something I had considered, but after spending lots of time with Novo and Jack, it felt like the right thing to do. Everyone at PBL Chefs is very excited with what the future holds together.”

To learn more about the acquisition, read this write up at The Caterer.