More than 65 hospitality leaders, including the Savoy and Soho House, have warned the UK government that the sector is “close to imploding” under the strain of acute labour shortages following Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Entrepreneur Richard Caring, chef Yotam Ottolenghi and Sinclair Beecham, co-founder of Pret A Manger, among others, wrote to the prime minister and senior Conservatives on Tuesday demanding that immigration requirements for hospitality workers be urgently loosened.
The letter, published in the Financial Times, said it was “critical” that roles such as chefs, bartenders and sommeliers be added to the shortage occupations list “in order to save the industry under Brexit rules”.