TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kanpai Group, a Taiwanese restaurant chain, announced on Tuesday (Jan. 3) salary hikes and plans to make inroads into the U.K. market.

The group that owns brands such as the Kanpai Yakiniku Restaurant, which offers Japanese-style barbecue cuisine, and Kurogeya, a hotpot restaurant known for its wagyu delicacies, said a 6.5% pay raise on average can be expected for full-time employees.

Meanwhile, a NT$3,000 (US$97.66) bonus will be added to the pay of workers at branches in Taipei’s Xinyi and Nangang districts and Hsinchu City, as an incentive to woo potential employees in a competitive market. The company has launched a hiring drive, eying 400 new recruits.

The new policy translates to a starting monthly salary of somewhere between NT$33,500 and NT$36,500 for staff members and NT$54,500 at maximum for managerial positions, wrote UDN.

Established in 1999, Kanpai is also looking to expand its presence overseas, with new store openings in the U.K. The project will involve dispatching locally trained workers and taking advantage of a bilateral working holiday arrangement.

Kanpai took the gold prize as a “happy business” for 2022 in an annual award held by job bank 1111. Benefits of the company include “soul-cleansing” days off and on-job training that ranges from the Japanese language to knowledge of beef and business operations.