Reacting to today’s Government announcements on migration regulation, Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said:
“Whilst the hospitality sector continues to work hard to recruit and train staff from the domestic workforce, the Government’s changes to the immigration system which will make the recruitment of skilled overseas workers harder and will be a blow for many pub businesses. This will compound the existing shortage of chefs and kitchen staff in hospitality, and hold back sector growth, as the salary increase will make it untenable for many businesses to recruit from overseas alongside the associated costs and complexities that apply alongside this.
“The Government need to consider ways to reduce the overall costs and complexities of the immigration system, recognising that many businesses in this sector are SMEs and a balanced immigration strategy that addresses concerns on overall numbers but also fuels growth and supports British businesses.
“As we enter the festive season, staff shortages in pubs can be exacerbated and skilled roles such as chefs and kitchen staff can be even harder to recruit the best staff.
“We support the Government’s ambition of expanding the Youth Mobility Scheme, but this must be done at pace. We also need greater flexibility in the use of the apprenticeship levy, so that it can be used for a range of training options that will develop recruits from the domestic workforce.”
ENDS
For more information or to arrange an interview contact press@beerandpub.com / 020 7627 9199
About the British Beer & Pub Association
The BBPA represents businesses which between them brew over 90% of the beer sold in the UK and own 20,000 pubs.
Our members include international companies, national and local brewers and pub businesses operating managed and tenanted pubs in cities, towns and villages across the country.
These businesses are at the heart of communities and local economies and include family businesses who have been brewing beer and running pubs for hundreds of years alongside emerging brewers and pub operators.
The UK’s beer and pub industry supports close to 940,000 jobs
The industry adds £26.2billion to the UK’s economy each year
For more information or to arrange an interview contact press@beerandpub.com / 020 7627 9199
Third-party news items that are posted on the Guild website’s news section come from press releases received by the Guild. These press releases are posted as they have been received and their publication on the Guild website is intended as an informational service provided to our members and website visitors. As such, the publication of a story from a third-party source is neither an endorsement of the content, nor its sender, by the Guild. For enquiries on any news item, please use the contact details that can be found at the bottom of each post.