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Salt Social People/Event staff London
Event and hospitality staffing · London · inside the M25

London event staff,priced in the open.

Caterers, unique venues, livery halls and corporate hospitality teams in London book us for overflow first and the difficult shifts second. One published London rate, no last-minute premium, and a named account manager on the phone until 2am.

Core rate inside the M25, ex VAT£28.00/hr
What the person is paid in London£16.00 + holiday
Last-minute premiumNever
Minimum booking4 hours
The London uplift

Three pounds more an hour, and two of them go to the person.

Every rate on our card carries a London uplift of £3.00 an hour inside the M25. Of that, £2.00 goes straight to the worker, because London rent and London travel cost more, and £1.00 covers our higher costs of running a team in the capital. Core bar, waiting and event crew are therefore £28.00 an hour ex VAT in London, paid £16.00 plus 12.07% holiday. Skilled roles are £31.00, Leads £37.00 and senior chefs £43.00.

That is the whole London price. There is no surge charge for a Friday in December, no premium for a booking made at 3pm for 6pm, and no travel charge when the person lives within 15 miles of the venue, which in London means almost always. Our London people are London based. Nobody is put on a train from Newcastle and billed to you as a local.

The local market

A city where the venue is the brand and the staff are the product.

London event work is different from anywhere else in the country. Caterers hold the client relationship and hire the venue, the kitchen and the floor staff around it. Unique venues in the City, Southwark, Shoreditch and the West End sell the room and expect the caterer to bring a team that fits it. Livery halls in the Square Mile run formal dinners with an order of service and a top table. Corporate hospitality in Canary Wharf and the City turns on quiet, precise service and people who understand that a guest is a client's client.

The common thread is that the floor team is what the guest remembers. That is why we hire fewer people and brief them harder. Our Skilled tier is built for fine-dining and box service, hosts and brand work. Our Leads have run rooms, not just worked in them. And because our people choose every shift they accept, the person who turns up to your livery dinner wanted the shift.

Late finishes and early starts

London jobs finish late and start early. We brief transport as part of the shift: night tube and night bus routes, or a taxi line agreed on the quote where the finish is after the last train. Booked hours are paid hours, so a person sent home early is still paid the full shift. That is why they stay.

Buying situations

Where London clients use us.

Rates, published

The rate card for this booking.

London rates, per hour, excluding VAT, inside the M25. What we pay is shown next to what you pay, because we think you should know both.

TierWe pay themYou pay us
CoreBar staff, waiting, runners, kitchen porters, event crew, stewards, cloakroom, admissions£16.00 + 12.07% holiday£28.00
SkilledCocktail bartenders, baristas, fine-dining and box waiters, hosts, brand ambassadors, team leaders£18.50 + holiday£31.00
LeadSupervisors, event managers, chefs de partie£22.00 + holiday£37.00
Senior chefSous chefs, head chefs£26.00 + holiday£43.00
What the London column shows. The table above already includes the £3.00 an hour London uplift (we pay +£2.00). National rates outside the M25 are £25, £28, £34 and £40.
Festive and bank holidays. 1 December to 2 January and bank holidays add +£3/hr (we pay +£2) on top of the London rate. New Year's Eve adds +£6/hr (we pay +£4) and replaces the festive uplift rather than stacking on it.
Not on the invoice. No last-minute premium. No surge pricing. No travel charge within 15 miles of the worker's base. No booking fee. Minimum booking 4 hours per person.
The contingency and the rebate. Every quote carries a 20% contingency line so a late finish never becomes an argument. Unused, it is never charged. If the job comes in under the quote, we refund 5% of the final invoice.
Cancellation, published. Free more than 48 hours before start. 50% between 24 and 48 hours. 100% inside 24 hours. Whatever you pay goes to the person who cleared their diary.
The whole rate card and the instant estimate
In the contract, not just on this page

Five promises with money behind them.

Every client booking carries the same five guarantees, written into our terms of business.

Quote in 60 minutes

Written, itemised, ex VAT, 8am to 8pm every day. Three hours outside that.

A named human, 7am to 2am

Your account manager's mobile is on the booking confirmation, answered on any day we have people working.

First-hour swap

Anyone not right? Tell us in the first hour. No charge for them and a replacement on the way.

First shift on us

New clients get one person for one four-hour shift free on their first booking. See what you are buying.

Fill honesty

Names confirmed within two hours of booking. If we cannot fill a position we say so at booking, never on the day.

Questions

Straight answers.

What is the London uplift?

Three pounds an hour on every tier inside the M25, of which two pounds goes to the worker. Core roles are £28.00 an hour ex VAT in London, Skilled £31.00, Lead £37.00 and senior chef £43.00.

Can you cover a caterer's overflow at short notice in London?

Often, yes. Tell us the venue, timings and headcount and we confirm within two hours whether we can fill it and who is coming. If we cannot fill every position we say so at booking, never on the day.

Do you charge a last-minute or surge premium in London?

No. The published rate is the rate, whether you book three weeks out or three hours out. The only uplifts are London, festive period, bank holidays and New Year's Eve, and all are printed on this page.

Are your London staff local?

Yes. Our London people live inside the M25 and there is no travel charge within 15 miles of their base. We do not send people from the North East and bill them as local.

Do you supply SIA security or door staff?

No. Door supervision needs an SIA licence and we refer that to a licensed partner. We do supply stewards, admissions, cloakroom and event crew.

Elsewhere and other seasons

Same people, same published terms.

Or start at the home page for the whole rate card, the instant estimate and how we take people on.

Get a quote

Tell us the brief. We reply within 60 minutes.

Staff enquiry

The more you give us, the more accurate the quote. Nothing here commits you to anything.
Or email hello@salt-social.co.uk

What happens next

Your brief lands with Tasmyn or Liam, not a queue. A written quote within 60 minutes (8am to 8pm) and a call if anything needs clarifying. A named mobile is given to every client at booking.

Compliance in one place

Every person paid through our PAYE payroll, so you carry no status risk. Right-to-work checks before day one. Employers' Liability £10m, Public Liability £10m. Certificates with your first confirmation.

Already have an agency?

Keep them. Use us for the shifts they cannot fill, or the ones that matter most. Overflow is where most first clients start.

Other agencies

Short on people for a big weekend? We supply overflow to other agencies on the same published terms.