Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Pub advertising for new chef bans ‘snowflakes’ from applying

Landlord ‘fed up’ with staff wanting evenings or weekends off and ‘complaining’ when things get busy

Colin Drury
Wednesday 31 August 2022 09:00 EDT
Comments
Christopher Darnbrough, landlord of the Queen Anne pub, said the advert was “just a laugh, really”
Christopher Darnbrough, landlord of the Queen Anne pub, said the advert was “just a laugh, really” (Supplied)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A pub advertising for a new chef has told potential applicants that “snowflakes” will not be considered.

The Queen Anne in Warrington has placed a blackboard outside declaring: “Chef wanted. Please ask inside for details. No snowflakes please!!"

And, in an online post on the family-run boozer’s Facebook page, it says: “If you want to be involved with serving and making the best homemade food that Golborne has to offer, are hardworking and not a snowflake, pop in and have a chat with us."

Landlord Christopher Darnbrough said he felt obliged to make the unorthodox requirement after a series of kitchen workers left the business complaining about the workload and schedules.

“It was just a laugh, really,” the 40-year-old said. “We’ve been getting fed up with – what’s the word here? I don’t want to throw myself under a bus – we’d been getting fed up with flaky people who take a job and then decide they only want to work on their terms.

“They start demanding that they don’t work weekends or evenings, even though this is the hospitality industry, that’s exactly when we need people working. Then suddenly, they have a mysterious illness that means they can’t come in.

“Or it gets busy and they start complaining that it’s too much. As a boss, it’s infuriating. You need it to be busy and you want your staff to thrive on that – not start getting overwhelmed by it all.”

He insisted most people had seen the humour in the ad and it had sparked some supportive discussions in the pub itself.

“The only people who’ve taken offence are online,” he said. “As far as I can tell, they’re snowflakes too.”

He said the pub – which he has run for 16 years – currently has 17 staff and eight vacancies for various roles.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in