One of Sydney’s top restauranteurs, Bill Drakopoulos, has complained about staff shortages in a recent interview with The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).
Drakopoulos ealier this year bought the Coast Hotel at Budgewoi on the NSW Central Coast for $15 million.
The Greek Australian hospitality tycoon’s Sydney Restaurant Group already operates 15 restaurants and cafes including popular venues Fenwick in Balmain, The Nielsen at Vaucluse and Ormeggio at The Spit.
Drakopoulos, in his interview with SMH and The Age said he has a “desperate shortage of staff” admitting that his managers are resorting to scouting for workers overseas amid a local staff shortage.
“I could probably do with another 70 staff,” Drakopoulos said with frustration adding that “It’s still pretty tough”.
“We have started scouting overseas for front-of-house and back-of-house staff in response. Even though it’s been a slow process so far I’m optimistic it’ll come good.”
Drakopoulos also said that he has been forced to limit the number of bookings at some restaurants in order to ensure they had sufficient staff to serve customers
