Hello All

My wife, Pook, has been settled in the UK since summer last year and is now trying to find a job to supplement our income. If anyone knows of any cooking/cleaning/bar work in the West End/City/North of London, we'd be most grateful if they'd let us know.

She can read, write and speak English reasonably well and can cook a wide range of Thai dishes, in fact I feel very lucky to be able to eat restaurant-quality Thai food every day at home!

She is cleared to work in the UK and has her own National Insurance number.

Many Thanks

Nick & Pook

Nick,
Have you and Pook considered whether she might use her cooking skills without working for someone else? You may not want to lay out a great deal of capital but, for example, there might be a market where you live for Thai food cooked and served in customers' own homes for dinner parties. I haven't heard of this being offered in respect of Thai food but I know that chinese meals are offered in this way.

Cheers Stuart

I hadn't really thought of that, I must confess. You're talking about setting up a business, though, for which we'd need to make the appropriate resources available.

I'll definitely pass your suggestion on to the missus and give it some thought.

Thanks again.

Nick

Nick,
I think that you would only need some cooking utensils and a bit of cash for advertising at first. If it takes off, you can spend some of the profit on making things more formal if you want to. It occurred to me that it might be a more pleasurable way to earn some cash than sweating away for an employer doing work below her ability and, perhaps, not being treated very well.

Whatever you both decide, good luck and keep us posted.

Andrew - cheers for the tips, we'll mosey on down and take a look.

Stuart - the wife likes the idea, but I'm not sure if we can use a private residence for commercial purposes without cutting through a load of red tape. We'll investigate.

Thanks a lot.

Nick & Pook

Nick,

I think that you would be OK. Your own home would be used only to store utensils and food and for some preparation. I'm sure that there would be no problems in working in a customer's home.

If you want to be sure that you will have no problem with what you do in your own home, have a word with the local authority.

You should get some liability insurance and it would be as well to find a specialist broker to help you with this. The cover would protect your wife against claims for personal injury (including food poisoning!) but, probably, not damage to property. She will need to get a health and hygene certificate too - but then I think she would need to do that to work in someone else's restaurant kitchen.

Hey, what about buying a caterer's mobile kitchen? You could cook outside the customer's house and work at markets too and get insurance through the Market Traders' Association.

Sorry if this brainstorming is getting off the wall now but maybe it will help you to come up with ideas that suit the two of you.

Stuart

Wow, you're full of ideas, and thank you for them! Although I've always thought of Pook as a potentially good business person, I reckon the entrepreneurial spirit is - even if mis-spelt - easier to apply in Thailand than here in the UK.

Nevertheless, we will do some homework and let you know if our fleet of mobile kitchens grows to more than 0. I'm off to discuss it with her.

Thanks again.

Nick & Pook

quote:

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Originally posted by Saf:
Hey, what about buying a caterer's mobile kitchen?

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A noodle stall?

Hey Stuart, I like your idea about cooking for other people. A friend of mine had a few of us over for a dinner party. She and her husband wanted to enjoy the company of their guests rather than spend the evening slaving over a hot cooker. So they asked an Australian friend who is great in the kitchen to help out. The hosts bought all the ingredients and the cook used the hosts' facilities: pots, pans, et cetera to stir up a few wonderful dishes while the rest of us enjoyed a few beers in the front room. All the cook provided was herself, her expertise in the kitchen and her time. The hosts provided everything else. Easy! And delicious!

There you go Nick, you've got your first customer already! Cliff will probably invite David Icke and John Snow so it will be quite an event!

quote:

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Originally posted by Saf:
There you go Nick, you've got your first customer already! Cliff will probably invite David Icke and John Snow so it will be quite an event!

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and don't forget the strange looking guy parked outside with the camera and listening devices

quote:

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and don't forget the strange looking guy parked outside with the camera and listening devices

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But isn't that Cliff?

There is a farmers market in the car park of Palmers Green BR N. London every Sunday morning.

As regards catering dinner parties this occurs quite a lot at the moment anThai is popular.

One dinner I went two was catered by two Thai ladies. They brought everything pretty much prepared and finished of the preparation and cooking in the hosts kitchen.

Richard

What are the possibilities of a Thai girl getting a job in London when she does not have a Bachelor (but has 7 years of professional experience)?

Can I get a job on my own merits or is that impossible?

If that option isn't possible, then...Can I apply for a work permit dependent visa... even though my boyfriend doesn't have one 'cause he's Irish and doesn't need one to work in the UK?

Any suggestions or other alternatives?

THANK YOU!


Maja

quote:

Originally posted by maimaj:
What are the possibilities of a Thai girl getting a job in London when she does not have a Bachelor (but has 7 years of professional experience)?

That all depends on the type of job you want.

I've just finished 5 years as a secretary at an international school and am currently employed as an associate at an international recruitment firm. I'm also a freelance translator (English-Thai/Thai-English). What would you suggest I try out for? How's the employment scene in London like now?

And to be honest, I'm interested in anything that'll get me a work permit. Not a big fan of long distance relationships.

Thanks!

maimaj, the qualification shouldn't be an issue. Obtaining a work permit as a secretary may be a different matter.

Now if your were married to the Irish citizen, that would make everything easier for you.

quote:

if your were married to the Irish citizen, that would make everything easier for you

Very much so. Maimaj, there would be an entitlement to an EEA Family Permit and with that in your passport you would have the same rights as your husband (as he would be) to live and work in the UK.

Maja,
As Tobias hinted at, getting a work permit would be far from easy. Firstly, it is the employer who applies for the permit, not the prospective employee. This effectively means that you would need to find an employer to sponsor you. Secondly, that employer would need to show why they need a Thai person to do the job instead of a European Economic Area national. They would need to show that they had made reasonable attempts to recruit from within the EEA and been unsuccessful or that a Thai would be better suited to the position, Thai/English speaking secretary for example. See Guidance - Work permit holders (INF 13)

Your boyfriend is exercising his treaty rights to live and work anywhere within the EEA, and those rights extend to his family as well, even if they are not EEA nationals. See Guidance - EEA & Swiss nationals (INF 18)

quote:

Can my family join me in the UK?
Yes. If you have the right to live in the UK your family can join you.
Under European Community law, your family includes:
your husband or wife .....If you are a student, only your husband or wife and your dependent children can join you.....An unmarried partner is not eligible for an EEA family permit.....

As you can see, for you boyfriend to exercise his rights and have you join him in the UK you would need to marry each other in Thailand first.

*banging my head against the computer desk*

That's what I feared...Urgh! Sigh...

Thanks anyway for the advice - very much appreciated.

My daughter in law is looking for work in and around Kingston. Her spoken English is pretty good and reads and writes it well. She has been for a few interviews but all say her English isnt good enough. Does anyone know of any conversational English groups or classes in the Kingston area

Barbara, Welcome to the Forum,

Contact your local colleges and ask if they run ESOL classes, many will. Depending on local policy, there may be a charge.

Good Luck
Keith

Just a thought for anyone wanting to invest a moderate sum in self-employment: I know that there's a good opportunity in buying your own mobile food until and serving Thai food. It may not be glamorous and it will involve travelling (towing) it around each Summer to shows, something which you'll either love or hate, but there's demand for Thai food, hardly any competition, and good money to be made.

There are over 30 good and suitably large shows in the South of England alone every summer, a food stall costing between 5-10 grand, event space being on average 1500 GBP for 3 days, Thai food selling for 5.00 per paper dish and the potential (in my opinion, I've watched a Thai food stall sell several times over the course of 1 hour) to sell to 400 people per day every day. That's a profit of 1500 GBP per day every day, minus other costs.

is she still looking for work we live in brixton london sw9 here is what we are looking for
we are a fun uk couple with 3 children, i am at full time college doing interior design and he is working in the city doing IT, the children are at school allday, but i need someone to help wheh they get home and every other weekend , wiling to pay very good good money, up to £7.50ph if you are good email us on pat@plgweb.co.uk my 4 year old has cerebral palsy and in the winter he needs oxygen when he goes outside, but he is very happy he can talk and is just like any other child his age is eve

i need someone to help me with the children, 2 of them have disabilities , you must have a police check, i also need someone to do house work and look after then everyother weekend, the money is good and the family are very friendly , give us a call on [phone numbers removed by moderator - please contact Sabina and Patrick by PM if interested] The only thing is we do not want a live in but that why we are paying £7.50 per hour and you can earn a lot of money up to about £1300per month take home after tax and ni what we need Some to come while the children are a school to clean and then when they get home do dinners and bath then get school cloths ready for next day and mollies lunch for school and when I get home from college you can leave about 7 then its 2 weekend a month from fri to sun looking after only Mollie as the other 2 go and stay at friends and there nans. but you get paid even while you are sleeping so its £7.50 per hour for 48 hours.