What the spreadsheet really costs
Spreadsheets are free — they just cost time and miss errors. 3.5 hours a week of rebuilding and swaps at £25/hour is about £380 a month. Two extra people on a quiet five-hour Tuesday lunch at £13/hour is £130 on one service. And no spreadsheet flags a late-then-early rest breach, a part-timer drifting into full-time hours, or a seventh consecutive day. The real problem isn't the rota — it's rebuilding it four times a week.
02The buyer checklist
- Builds from availability and contracted hours
- Handles kitchen realities: split shifts, sections, varying headcount by service
- Checks UK rest rules before publishing — 11 hours between shifts, weekly rest, under-18 limits
- Shows wage cost against forecast sales while you build
- Tracks holiday against entitlement
- Staff see the rota on a phone; swaps and sick calls don't mean rebuilding the week
- Exports for payroll
Three approaches compared
| Criterion | Spreadsheet | Dedicated rota app | Chef's Intelligence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | Free | Per employee or per site | £29 flat (People & Training) · £89 all zones |
| Setup | None | Profiles, templates, invites | Paste in staff list and constraints |
| Drafts the rota | No | Varies | Yes, from your team and instructions |
| Rest-rule checks | Only with your own formulas | Often built in | Ask it to check any draft |
| Staff app / clock-in | No | Usually the reason to buy | No — you share the rota yourself |
| Payroll / EPOS links | No | Often | No |
| Other kitchen admin | No | Rota and HR only | Training plans, trial shifts, onboarding, reviews |
Eight questions before signing
- Total cost at my headcount — including setup fees and add-ons?
- Minimum contract, and notice to leave?
- Can I export my data — past rotas and hours — if I go?
- Split shifts and sections supported?
- Does it check UK rest rules and under-18 limits, or is that on me?
- Where is staff data stored, and how does it meet UK GDPR?
- Will the team actually use the app? Trial it with your least tech-confident KP.
- When is support available? Rotas get written on Sunday nights.
Get contracted hours and booked holiday right first. Run old and new side by side for two weeks. Go live in a quiet week — never the run-up to Christmas or Mother's Day.
Where Chef's Intelligence fits
The People & Training zone drafts the rota from your team, availability, holiday and expected covers; checks rest gaps and wage cost; redrafts when someone drops out. It is not a staff app — no clock-in, no swaps, no payroll links. Best for kitchens that have outgrown the spreadsheet but don't want another app, or that want rotas and training in one place. Flat rate per zone, not per employee. Needs a paid Claude plan (Pro minimum).