Member Article

BREXIT may deal blow to London restaurants

A “yes” vote to leave the European Union in the forthcoming referendum could have a severe adverse impact on one of the UK’s most successful service industries, the hospitality sector in London, according to new information from luxury hospitality recruiter, The Change Group.

The company’s analysis of the nationality of applicants over the past two years indicates that applicants from the EU are essential to filling much-needed front and back of house positions in London restaurants.

Skilled migrants from the EU, including experienced chefs and restaurant management staff, account for over 50 per cent of applicants over the past two years.

Whilst the number of applicants from the UK is rising gradually, those from outside the UK have been falling over the past two years, and now represent around one in 10 people applying for a hospitality job in the capital.

The hospitality sector has seen sustained growth over recent years and in 2015, saw an almost 5% increase in the number of jobs available with over 20,000 new chefs working in the UK (Office of National Statistic).

The Change Group is warning that the imposition of tougher border controls, especially for skilled migrants from other parts of Europe as a result of Brexit, could turn the persisting skills and employee shortage in the hospitality sector into a serious situation which could lead to restaurant cutbacks, price increases and even closures. Data from People 1st which specialises in hospitality training and development indicates that 42 per cent of jobs in hospitality are considered hard to fill.

Whilst the government and the hospitality industry has launched a number of initiatives to encourage more Britons to work in the hospitality sector, it is vital for London restaurants to be able to access skilled employees from other parts of the world and especially the EU.

The Office of National Statistics estimates that there were over 2 million EU nationals working in the UK between October and December last year, and Nick Clegg was stated in the Guardian that 3 million British jobs depend on the UK being part of the EU.

Craig Allen, director of The Change Group, said, “Brexit would be a disaster for the UK hospitality sector as a whole, and for London specifically. At a time when the UK is benefitting from a boom in the hospitality industry, which is creating so many new job opportunities, why threaten this with new legislation which will make it harder for restaurants to recruit? The result could be a perfect storm: a world class hospitality industry that is regarded by many as offering some of the finest cuisine in the world; a glut of tourists in London eager to take advantage of a strong dollar and Euro; and restaurants struggling to provide service because they are so short staffed. We very much hope the UK will say “no” and that the UK will continue to remain a destination for skilled people looking for a fantastic career.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Change Group .