Become Part of the Busy Bees Team – One of the UK's Leading Nursery Groups

About the Role

Do you love cooking and take pride in creating delicious, wholesome meals? As an Assistant Chef at Busy Bees, you will play an important role in our catering team, helping to prepare fresh, nutritious food that supports the health and development of young children.

This is a rewarding opportunity to use your cooking skills in a childcare setting where the meals you prepare make a real difference to children's everyday experiences. Working alongside our kitchen team, you will help plan and prepare well-balanced dishes, ensuring children are provided with tasty, varied and nutritious meals.

Whether you have previous experience working in a professional kitchen or are keen to expand your catering knowledge, you will have the opportunity to develop your abilities, learn new skills and grow within a welcoming and supportive team.

About Busy Bees

Busy Bees is one of the UK's leading childcare providers, with almost 400 nurseries throughout the UK and further settings overseas. Our passion is to give every child the strongest possible start in life by delivering excellent childcare and early years education.

We understand that our employees are essential to everything we achieve. That's why we are proud of our award-winning workplace culture and are dedicated to building an environment where everyone feels included, appreciated and supported.

Why Work at Busy Bees?

At Busy Bees, we want our employees to feel confident in their roles and have the opportunity to reach their full potential. We encourage learning, personal development and career progression, providing a workplace where people can build valuable experience and enjoy being part of a team.

As an Assistant Chef, you will have a rewarding role in supporting children's health and wellbeing through the preparation of nutritious meals. Your contribution will help create positive daily experiences while ensuring high standards are maintained within the nursery kitchen.

You will also have the opportunity to learn about our exclusive Bee Curious curriculum, which focuses on inspiring children to be curious, independent and confident through exploration and discovery.

By joining Busy Bees, you will become part of a dedicated team that celebrates individual contributions, values collaboration and is committed to making a positive difference every day.

Busy Bees Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Ongoing professional development and career progression
• Our ‘Hive’ benefits and wellbeing hub, with discounts across a huge range of retailers
• Up to 28 days holiday per year (including bank holidays)
• Your birthday off – it’s our gift to you!
• 25% childcare discount
• Enhanced family leave and return to work bonus
• Menopause support through Peppy
• Financial support through Salary Finance
• Employee Assistance Programme and Mental Health First Aiders
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Easy access to your workplace pension through Cushon
• Discounted Private Medical Insurance (PMI)

But wait, there’s more! You'll also enjoy access to our Benefits and Wellbeing platform, Hive - offering huge array huge of retail discounts helping your money to go further, along with a Wellbeing Hub featuring resources to support your physical and mental health. A Celebrating You section showcasing the ways we recognise and reward our valued team members. Plus, a dedicated Grow with Us area sharing the exciting development opportunities and training designed to support you to thrive and grow at Busy Bees.

Key Responsibilities:

• Prepare healthy, nutritious meals that meet dietary requirements for children.
• Support the Chef in overseeing kitchen operations and maintaining food safety and hygiene standards.
• Ensure kitchen inventory is well-maintained and assist with ordering and stock management.
• Support meal preparation and assist in the cleaning and maintenance of kitchen equipment.

• Ideally experience in leadership within early years settings.
• Strong mentoring and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to drive improvements and ensure compliance.