Case study: 'My children understand. They ask me when I'm working, so they're aware of it'

Published on Sunday 16 January 2011 18:46

Chef Donald McInnes works up to 80 hours a week and admits it is 'very difficult' to have a work-life balance, with wife Jane and children Fraser, nine, and Zoe, six

Chef Donald McInnes, 40, has managed to improve his work-life balance by taking on his new job as executive chef of the four-star Western House Hotel and Ayr Racecourse. He now "only" works between 55 and 80 hours a week.

That is an improvement for the 40-year-old who would previously be away from home from Monday to Friday while working for the Hotel du Vin and Malmaison chain. He still drives 100 miles a day between his Erskine home and work in Ayr, but that is less than flying around the UK.

"Without a shadow of a doubt, there's a lot of things I have missed out on," says the father of Fraser, nine, and Zoe, six.

"I don't blink an eye at doing 12 to 14-hour days. That's the norm. I would hate to say my children have been affected by it. On a day-to-day basis, there's still a family feeling there. But when there's nativity plays or things at school, mum is there by herself; it's like a single parent sometimes.

"I have a good upbringing and a good wife, Jane, who was in the trade herself so there's a slight understanding of the hours required. This is what I have always wanted to do and it's about getting a balance.

"It spurs you on to do a better job and a harder job to make sure you can feed them and put a roof over their heads.

"I'm in a better job now because I come home every night.

My previous job was great from the working point of view and to push me into a new level, which allowed me this job. But it took a toll.

"I have no regrets about my previous work, but it was time to stand on my own two feet and have a little more time at home.

"It has been really hard work and will continue to be. It's very, very difficult in this job to have a work-life balance."

And he concluded: "I'm lucky that my children are very flexible and understanding. They do ask when I'm working, so they're aware of it."