Challenges faced by the UK Hospitality Industry post brexit

There was a brilliant article by Keith Barr in the Daily Telegraph on Monday, talking about the challenges faced by the UK Hospitality Industry post brexit.

We can’t reproduce the whole article, but in particular Keith said:

” Our business here … has been built upon this country’s openness to the world.’ In a post-Brexit world, politicians and business leaders need to be doing all we can to ensure the UK economy continues to prosper. The hospitality industry has worked with the Government to develop the Tourism Sector Deal, which commits to 130,000 new hotel rooms by 2025, in order to welcome an extra nine million visitors a year.

KPMG forecasts that the UK hospitality sector needs 62,000 new EU migrants per year in order to maintain its current activities and grow. This will be made extremely difficult under the rules proposed in the Immigration White Paper. According to trade body UK Hospitality, up to 90pc of industry roles do not meet the proposed £30,000 salary threshold for overseas workers.

This includes many skilled roles, such as a multilingual concierge or a chef de partie in a hotel kitchen.
That’s why, for me, the reduction of this threshold to £20,000 proposed this week makes sense.”

We think you will all agree with Keith’s closing points:

“It is vital that the UK continues to demonstrate the openness which has helped it become such a global hub and attract a diverse international workforce that plays a key role in driving the economy. A thoughtful, pragmatic approach is required to avoid a damaging shortage of skills, labour and the rich cultural mix that makes our industry, and the UK, so special.”

Well said Keith!!