Boutique Recruitment & Operations Services

Bespoke expertise tailored to the hospitality industry.

Recruitment, operations, admin + boundless enthusiasm.

Inaugurated in the post-lockdown uncertainties of 2021, Yellowbird.London’s mission to help restaurateurs and food business owners fill tummies with goodness began in earnest.

We offer fully tailored, inexpensive recruitment and HR solutions as well as operational and IT services, plus love, optimism and friendly support.

Post April ’25 the world of hospitality, for a great many, is proving a tricky environment.  But tricky is our stock in trade.  We’ve helped our clients weather the post-Brexit recruitment storm, assisted in navigating post-Covid uncertainties, and we shall continue to offer our guidance, experience and expertise during this post-cliff edge adjustment.

Our continually expanding team are actively consolidating our early successes and are here to help. Please get in touch and let’s see if we can make your worry pile slightly lighter.

Current Clients

  • Kanada-Ya

    Kanada-Ya is an award winning chain of Ramen bars bringing authentic Japanese flavours to the Capital. They serve world renowned, mind blowing bowls.

    Our Services:

    • Recruited staff of all levels from Kitchen Porters to General Managers.

    • Workforce management.

    • Custom sales reporting and Management Accounting.

    • Menu costing and planning.

    • Set up and administration of MarketMan stock control system.  Oversaw integrations with external software suppliers.

    • Website design, admin and copywriting.

    • Design of internal documentation and training materials.

  • Machiya

    Machiya is a Japanese restaurant near Piccadilly Circus serving some of the finest Asian dishes outside of the motherland.

    Our Services:

    • Front and Back of House recruitment, we’ve helped them to assemble strong kitchen and waiting teams.

    • Workforce management.

    • We worked closely with the Executive Chef to accurately cost all dishes on the menu and identify savings.

    • Custom sales reporting and Management Accounting.

    • Set up and administration of MarketMan stock control system.

  • Fatty Foodie

    This group of companies run several food led operations in London, including two Kanada-Ya locations under franchise.  For the launch of their flagship Westfield location we assembled a brand new team on their behalf, overseeing staff training and development.  We also provided much needed logistical support pre and post launch, co-ordinating with steakholders, suppliers, corporate landlords as well as building and engineering teams. 

    One of our more comprehensive clients, we’ve assisted them with almost all of the services listed below.

  • Mao Pao Mini Hot Pot

    Firey, authentic Chinese Hot Pot served at this lovely eatery, their first dine in restaurant, in Elephant & Castle.

    Our Services:

    • IT network and equipment installation and set up.

    • POS set up and troubleshooting.

    • Basic document design.

  • Niko Neko Bao

    Niko Neko Bao is a pre-launch street food stall with a mouth watering menu of steamed pan-Asian delights. We’re pretty sure you’ll be seeing their katsu sliders on socials really soon!

    Our Services:

    • Supply chain research, planning and negotiation.

    • Proof reading of business plan and other documentation.

    • Menu costing and portion control.

    • Sales forecasting and custom reporting.

    • Setting up of Deliveroo, UberEats and JustEat accounts.

    • Ad hoc admin tasks.

  • Pizzacat

    Soon to launch new delivery brand, logo tbc!

    As well as bakers of the finest ‘zza, their foCATccia is also amazing!

    Our Services:

    • Run taste testing sessions with the public and reported findings.

    • Scheduled trading opportunities at local food events.

    • Business plan assistance.

    • Supply chain guidance.

    • Tech stack guidance.

  • Friends Of Dalmain

    Friends Of Dalmain is a South East London charity raising funds to support a local primary school. It’s a wonderful community of parents, carers, school staff and pupils working together to better the lives of families in the area.

    Our Services:

    • Events planning and hosting.

    • Monetising their food offerings at events and fundraisers.

    • General administrative support.

    • Overseeing the design and installation of a brand new library area of the school.

Testimonials

“We have been working with Yellowbird.London for just under 2 years and have been consistently impressed with Phil’s work across a number of projects. 

Like most businesses within the hospitality sector, we faced huge challenges recruiting and retaining quality employees post-Covid. As a result of Phil's dynamism and his ability to adapt to constantly changing market conditions, Kanada Ya was able to build up a full team of high quality, motivated team members whilst many competitors continued to struggle and where others (including large, costly agencies) failed to deliver. As such, I can't recommend Phil and Yellowbird.London highly enough and would encourage any business owner or operator to discuss how they can help your business.”

— Aaron Burgess-Smith, Director of Kanada-Ya UK Ltd.

“The team at Yellowbird.London have been super helpful in getting our first food endeavour off the ground! Lots of great advice about where and how to sell our products, honest opinions and some nifty industry tips! They are always keen to run through new ideas and knock up a helpful spreadsheet along the way. What ever your ideas, this organisation can really help you go for it!”

— Deborah Christophers, Co-Owner of Niko Neko Bao.

“Phil and his team have been in charge of food offerings at our flagship school fundraising events for several years now. They have taken full ownership of planning and preparing hot food for several hundred visitors, turning tasty dishes around in a short amount of time. They have also created shift rotas as well as managed and briefed volunteers to deliver an excellent experience to our customers. Phil's amazing efforts and budgeting skills helped us to raise much needed funds for Dalmain Primary school. The whole team are enthusiastic, are great planners and organisers and are a pleasure to work with. They are extremely professional and work well under pressure, a much-needed skill when managing a busy kitchen during a big event. I highly recommend Yellowbird.London, he's a great person to work with. Thanks for everything, Phil!”

— Daniela Schichor, Co-Chair, Friends Of Dalmain.

Our Services

Recruitment

We source, screen, interview and onboard high quality, long lasting candidates, for a low fixed rate commission.

We’ve recruited a currently active workforce of over 100 candidates, in all levels of service from KPs to GMs.

Operations

  • Supply chain management - sourcing products and negotiating terms.

  • Menu costing & analysis.

  • Recipe book and training documentation design.

  • Custom reporting - labour and sales reports sourced from multiple channels and combined into custom designed layouts.

  • Scheduling and chairing team meetings, allocating action points and verifying outcomes.

  • Events planning and hosting.

  • Copywriting.

  • General administrative support.

HR

  • Workforce management via software solutions such as Harri, Deputy & Rotaready.

  • Employee relations and performance management via tailored training, monitoring and appraisal processes.

  • Compliance advice and scheduling policy updates in relation to new legal requirements effecting employees.

  • Drafting employment contracts and onboarding documentation.

  • Disciplinary procedure creation and implementation.

  • General Manager training program creation and implementation.

IT Support

  • Full tech stack set up and integration.

    We have particular expertise in setting up and maintaining MarketMan, Notazone, Lightspeed, Eposnow, Sunday, Storekit, FreshKDS, Deliverect, Urban Piper, Deputy, Harri & Rotaready systems. We’re super happy to work with whatever providers are of best fit though, and to offer guidance and advice on which systems would best suit any particular pursuit.

  • IP mapping and network management.

  • Website design and admin.

Let’s Chat.

We look forward to learning about you and your business.