The hospitality industry is a wide-ranging sector that features businesses such as restaurants, hotels, pubs, cinemas and music venues. Mirroring the scope of the industry is the variety of roles within it, as the sector employs everyone from reception staff to cleaners and managers to security guards.
Such a wide range of roles, all with their own safety requirements, means it can be challenging to know how best to dress your staff. Put together by the experts at Alexandra Workwear, one of the UK’s largest suppliers of workwear across all sectors, this post lists five of the most popular hospitality uniforms UK businesses are choosing right now across five of the most common roles.
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Top garment for chefs
When it comes to chef uniforms, the chef jacket reigns supreme. In terms of design, establishments could look for a mandarin collar jacket with front stud buttons, as this style looks professional and doesn’t date. The short collar type is particularly popular with chefs because it helps keep them cooler around the neck and head in the high temperatures of the kitchen.
In terms of features, the best jackets are made from a moisture-wicking material. This fabric makes the jacket breathable and allows it to quickly draw any moisture to the surface to evaporate – a feature that helps to keep the wearer cooler and more comfortable for longer. In addition, such a feature allows chefs to maintain concentration in a busy and hot kitchen.
A well-made chef jacket could be paired with a pair of elasticated waist chef trousers and a chef’s cap, both in the same colour as the jacket. The clean-cut lines of all garments, together with their practicality, means you’ll have a uniform that keeps your chefs comfortable and well-protected for the duration of their shifts.
Stylish garments for reception staff
As reception staff are the first members of your team that customers see, their uniforms should make a brilliant first impression and set the tone for the experience of your establishment. Hence, a smart solid-colour shirt is an excellent choice for any hospitality venue, from cinemas to restaurants.
Establishments could choose a wing-collar shirt that can button fasten to the collar. The long sleeves look professional, while the tighter button cuffs add a finishing touch to elevate the entire garment.
The wing-collar shirt works well when paired with neutral coloured slim-leg trousers, which complement the look of the tighter button cuffs. More formal establishments may also wish to add a waistcoat on top, as this helps to signify to customers a higher-end setting.
The best garments for managers
Managers’ uniforms can be difficult ones to get right for establishments. Their clothing should signify their status to customers while also being coherent with what the rest of their team is wearing. Hence, many establishments base their managers’ uniforms on the same garments as their reception staffs’, with a few slight differentiators.
Managers might wear a smart solid colour shirt that’s a different colour from all other staff members. This helps show the hierarchy and ensure customers know who to turn to if they need help with an enquiry. Managers might also pair their shirt with some looser fit trousers, as these are considered more formal than slimmer leg options and smart shoes such as low heels or brogues.
Fashionable garments for waiting staff
For many establishments, waiting staff and reception staff may rotate their roles, so businesses often try to keep their uniforms broadly similar.
One of the current trends for an easy-to-remove differentiator is adding a faux leather waist apron to the uniform of waiting for staff. By adding the apron on top of a smart shirt and slim-leg trousers, businesses can signify to customers the staff members who will take their order.
Faux waist aprons make such an excellent uniform choice because they’re smart, make the uniform interesting by adding a different texture, are wipe clean for spills and have pockets so servers can keep pens and notepads close to hand to take customer orders.
The best garments for cleaning staff
While cleaning staff aren’t often seen by customers, their uniforms still need to be presentable. In recent years, mandarin collar tunics have become the most popular garment for housekeeping staff. Their popularity has risen because they’re comfortable to wear and help to keep the wearer cooler than a more oversized collared item would.
Establishments should choose tunics that are washable up to 60ºC as this keeps them in line with infection prevention and control guidelines in times of COVID-19. In addition, as housekeeping jobs can sometimes be unpleasant, this makes sure their uniforms can be thoroughly cleaned after every shift.
The above list highlights some of the most popular garments among the most common roles in the hospitality industry. It gives some pointers for establishment managers or owners looking to purchase new uniforms for their staff. By focusing on choosing durable, comfortable, and protective clothing for staff, you’ll be sure to have made the right selection.
