How to become a private chef or personal chef

While there are no formal qualifications or training required to be a private or personal chef, there are some that are highly recommended. Many others in the field have them, and clients see them as indications of high-quality cooking, so they can be helpful when it comes to attracting customers. 

Some chef qualifications you may want to consider include: 

• Professional Cookery (7100) Diploma: Level 2 or 3 is an asset for any personal or private chef.

• Grand Diplôme® Professional Chef Diploma: This is a prestigious diploma, especially beneficial for private chefs hoping to attract high-value clients. 

• Patisserie and Confectionery (7120) Diploma: Especially important for those who plan to do a lot of desserts.

• Nutrition (7165) Diploma: A good choice for those who plan on having specialist diets as their niche.

There are some more practical qualifications and certifications you will need to consider as well, including: 

• Level 2 Food Safety & Hygiene Certificate: Not a legal requirement, but highly recommended for all those working with food, as it is often an expectation. 

• Allergen Awareness Training: Again, this is highly recommended for anyone in the food industry. This can be done at the same time as the Level 2 Food Safety Certificate. 

• First Aid at Work: This can be beneficial not just for yourself, but for clients too. 

• DBS Check (Disclosure & Barring Service): This is often a requirement when working with a private chef agency, and is also valued by clients, especially when working in households with children or vulnerable adults.

• Driving licence: This is not a requirement, but it is highly recommended for personal chefs as they may do a lot of travelling between clients. It is also beneficial for private chefs, especially for getting premium groceries from further afield, such as farmers' markets. 

But it isn’t all about the qualifications and certificates — chef skills and experience matter, too. Experience can be gained from working in a commercial kitchen, doing catering, or even running your own food van. And with experience should come chef skills. That being said, there are ways you can work on these at home. Use your spare time to develop various chef skills, such as working on your vegetable cutting or perfecting a staple dish, like stock. You should also take time to brush up on specialist diets, such as vegan, gluten-free, keto, halal, kosher, and low FODMAP diets. 

Some soft skills are essential when it comes to how to be a private or personal chef, including ones which you may not need as much in a commercial kitchen. These include advanced discretion and interpersonal communication, which is especially important when working with just one client, as a strong relationship is a must. Adaptability is also vital, again, especially for private chefs, as clients may request meals at any time of day. Depending on the contract you have, this isn’t always a reasonable request, which is why setting clear expectations and boundaries is also key. 

Whether you're working as a private chef in a client's home or a personal chef travelling between clients, the right equipment is essential. Your kit is what helps you deliver the professional-level results your clients expect, while also helping you stay efficient, so investing in top-quality equipment is essential. 

Below is a breakdown of essential kitchenware and cookware you’ll need as a personal or private chef: 

• Chef’s knives, plus a sharpener for keeping them safe and in top condition

• Utensils

• Chopping boards

• Digital thermometer

• Saucepans and frying pans

There are a few optional extras you may want to consider investing in: 

• Portable induction hob: This is handy if a client’s kitchen lacks hob space or you're cooking off-site.

• Vacuum sealer: Great for food storage, marinating, or sous vide prep.

• Pastry products and baking tools: If you plan on having a specialist desserts menu, pastry cookware is highly valuable.

Appliances are another key consideration for both private and personal chefs. Personal chefs can use appliances at home when making pre-prepared meals, while private chefs can keep appliances at the homes of their clients. Some appliances you will likely want to consider include: 

• Food processors 

• Dehydrators

• Stand mixers and stick blenders

• Thermal blenders

• Scales

• A portable fridge or cooler: This is especially important for meal prep or transporting perishables to clients' homes

Food presentation is important for any chef, but it is especially vital for private chefs. Clients spend a lot of their money on a private chef, so they expect the very best. To ensure your presentation is of the highest standard, invest in the best presentation tools, such as:

• Bonzer portioners 

• Plating tweezers

• A portable heat lamp or warming tray

Lastly, if you plan on becoming a personal chef, it is also necessary to invest in transport and storage solutions for your food. The following can help you ensure food hygiene while travelling with meals or ingredients: 

• Insulated cool bags or boxes to maintain safe temperatures for food in transit

• Robust plastic containers: Stackable, leak-proof options, such as the ones we offer at Mitchell & Cooper, are ideal for storing prepped meals or ingredients

• Knife rolls or cases: Designed to keep your tools secure and prevent damage.

• Equipment crates/trolleys: This makes transporting larger loads to clients' homes more efficient.

• Label printer: This is a handy tool for providing clear meal instructions, especially in batch-cooking or dietary services

It may seem like a large expense, but you don’t need to buy everything upfront. Begin with a strong core kit, and expand your equipment as you go based on your niche, client expectations, and the types of services you offer (e.g., dinner parties vs. weekly meal prep). 

If you're self-employed, it's critical to protect your gear — and yourself — with proper insurance. After all, your equipment is your livelihood! So, invest in comprehensive equipment insurance that covers loss, theft, or damage of your kit. As well as covering your equipment, it is also important to invest in food business insurance if preparing food from your own home, or public liability insurance, which protects you if someone is injured or property is damaged when cooking away from home.

Now you know the difference between the two career paths and the equipment you need, but how do you get into the field? Whether you want to learn how to be a private chef or a personal chef, read on for some practical tips on how to break into the industry. 

Get plenty of experience

For the best start to your private or personal chef career, it’s highly recommended that you get ample experience in the field. While you don’t need to have worked in every chef position in the kitchen hierarchy, at least some experience in a professional kitchen is needed to hone your chef skills, food presentation expertise, and build your portfolio. Working with other chefs also gives you references on your chef skills, which will be highly valuable when it comes to finding clients. 

Wondering how to become a private chef with no experience? It is difficult, but it isn’t impossible. Qualifications are especially important for those without experience working in a commercial kitchen, as are testimonials. You can get these by offering voluntary catering for charity events, or events hosted by friends or family. Volunteering will also give you experience working in an unfamiliar kitchen, which is especially handy for personal chefs or short-term contract private chefs. 

Whether you get your experience from a professional kitchen or from volunteering, keep as much work documented as you can. Save photos of your dishes, any menus you have designed, and gather testimonials to build a portfolio that demonstrates your cooking skills, style, and ability to meet a client’s brief. Your portfolio will be key for securing clients, as well as for approaching private chef agencies.

Register as self-employed

Once you’ve started gaining professional or voluntary experience and are ready to become a personal or private chef, the next step is to make it legally official. This involves setting up your business and registering it with HMRC. The two most common business structures chosen by both private and personal chefs are registering as self-employed or setting up a limited company. 

Most private and personal chefs just starting out opt for the self-employed route. This is considered to be the most flexible option and is straightforward to set up. Simply fill in the HMRC form, and when accepted, you will be given a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) code to be used on your tax returns, which confirms you are officially self-employed. You should also open a separate business bank account to keep your business finances separate from your personal spending. Again, this is a relatively straightforward and available at almost all UK banks. Self-employed workers are required to submit annual tax returns, although in April 2026, this is set to increase to quarterly returns for those earning over £50,000, and by April 2028, it will apply to those earning £20,000 or more (LITGR). 

Alternatively, you may choose to set up a Limited Company. A limited company offers limited liability, meaning your personal assets are protected if your business runs into difficulty. However, it also involves more admin, including registering with Companies House and running payroll if you pay yourself a salary. Some private chefs use this structure when working with agencies that prefer to deal with companies rather than sole traders.

It is recommended that any aspiring private or personal chefs consult an accountant or business advisor to find the most appropriate route. 

Find your niche

A niche isn’t an absolute necessity for becoming a private chef or personal chef, but it can help set your business apart from the competition. There are a variety of different niches to choose from, so you shouldn’t be short of ideas, but just make sure you choose one which aligns with your style of cooking. Some personal and private chef niche ideas include: 

• A specific cuisine or fusion of cuisines 

• Dietary niches: Vegetarian, vegan, paleo, keto, kosher, halal, etc. 

• Catering to certain intolerances, such as celiac, nut-free, or oral allergy syndrome 

• Fitness and performance nutrition

• Michelin-style fine dining

• Focusing on pre-prepared meals for clients to store and heat up at home 

• If you want to be a private chef, you could focus exclusively on short-term contracts for luxury holidays 

Choose your price point 

Setting your price as a personal or private chef can be one of the trickiest business decisions. You will need to balance a competitive price (especially when starting out) with a price that fairly compensates your work, as well as covers the cost of resources. 

The best place to start is by considering your skills and expertise. It is normal to charge less at the start of your career, and build your price based on experience, testimonials, a larger client base, and increased chef skills. You should also look into local competition and see how much a personal or private chef costs in your area. Prices vary significantly depending on region, so it’s a good idea to keep your search local. You may be able to charge a higher amount if you have more experience than the competition or offer a highly specific niche.  

You’ll also need to choose a pricing structure for your business. Some chefs charge by the hour, while others prefer a day rate. You may want to discuss your options with an accountant or small business advisor to work out which payment type best suits your business model. Don’t forget to factor in admin time (writing menus, shopping, etc.) when calculating your rates.

Perfect your branding and marketing 

Marketing yourself is key for clients to find you and your services, so this should be a top priority when setting up your business. While it is important for setting up any business, from a bakery to a bar, it is especially vital for those without brick-and-mortar establishments. 

To start, build a strong brand identity that resonates with you and the services you provide. This can include finding a name for your business and developing a logo. As an independent chef, you can simply use your own name, but you may want to think outside the box and go for a business name that clearly displays your niche. 

A strong website is also essential, as this is how many clients will find your business. Make sure the website is clean, quick-loading, and easy to navigate. It should have all the essential information, including sample menus, testimonials, contact info, and photos of your cuisine, as well as information about your experience and qualifications. An SEO-optimised site will help make your website more visible, so you may want to hire an agency or freelancer to help with this side of the business when setting up. 

Alongside your website, maintaining a professional social media presence can help increase your visibility. Instagram lends itself well to private and personal chefs as it allows them to showcase their dishes, while LinkedIn can help you connect with high-income clients and busy working customers who are more likely to need the services of a personal chef.

A lot of private and personal chef marketing is done online, but it’s always a good idea to have business cards on hand, especially when catering events. 

Network

Just like marketing, networking is vital for getting your business out there and increasing visibility. Food business networking events are a great opportunity for this, as are catering events on the side. As well as working with other food businesses, you can also network with the wider hospitality community to build professional relationships. For example, partnering with luxury service providers, like premium holiday or yacht letting companies, can help you access the luxury holiday market. 

Consider working with agencies 

When you’re just starting out, working with an agency can be an effective way to source clients. These agencies connect chefs with households, events, and clients already actively seeking culinary services, so even if you don’t put yourself out there as much, clients can still find you. 

There are a variety of personal and private chef agencies to choose from in the UK, some of the most popular being Eden Private Staff, Greycoat Lumleys, Signature Staff, and Silver Swan Recruitment. These agencies cater to a range of clients, including those looking for live-in chefs, part-time personal chefs, and chefs for yachts and holiday homes. Due to the high-profile nature of the clients, they do stringent checks, looking at your background, references, and experience.

Working with agencies gives you access to pre-vetted clients and means you don’t have to spend as much time marketing. However, bear in mind that they usually charge a commission or a monthly fee for using their services. You may also have less control over your schedule and the clients you’re matched with, so this may not be the best option for you if flexibility is your priority. 

After reading this guide, you should know how to be a private chef or personal chef in the UK, and know what you need to do to get there. It can be a challenging role to get into, but with time, expertise, and dedication, it can be a truly unique and exciting career path to follow. 

To give you the best start in your new role, make sure to invest in the highest quality equipment. Here at Mitchell & Cooper, we offer an array of appliances, kitchenware, cookware, and storage solutions, all from industry-leading brands, including Bonzer and Dynamic. Explore our full collection today, and don’t forget to check out the rest of our guides for more informative reads — including our guide to opening a ghost kitchen.