Staff reportedly thriving — except for this bullied Spanish waiter (6)
I believe the answer is:
manuel
'except for this bullied spanish waiter' is the definition.
'Manuel' can be an answer for 'bullied spanish waiter' (character in the sitcom Fawlty Towers). I am not certain of the remainder of the definition.
'staff reportedly thriving' is the wordplay.
'staff' becomes 'man' (as in staffing or manning a particular place).
'reportedly thriving' becomes 'uel' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'man'+'uel'='MANUEL'
(Other definitions for manuel that I've seen before include "Spaniard" , "incompetent hotel worker" , "Abduct" , "Fawlty Towers waiter" .)