Asian restauranteurs in Torquay, one of hubs of UK tourism are reporting an acute shortage of chefs and front of house staff ahead of an expectation to realise a boom in staycations. The very much needed boom in staycations for holidaymakers, and hospitality providers could be curtailed due to a lack of chefs and front of house team members.
Rehan Uddin, Managing Director of the Asian Restaurant Owners NetworkWe spoke with chef and owner of Torquay restaurant Bombay Express Rehan Uddin, who is also managing director of trade body, Asian Restaurant Owners Network. Uddin explained: “The difficulties are right now and a direct consequence of Brexit. We no longer enjoy access to hospitality people from Europe, where skilled and hardworking chefs have come from to work with us for many years.
“There are simply now far more jobs open than people available to fill them.
“The problem is also part of long term under investment in education, there is a lack of sufficient training and skills development centres and colleges here in Torquay, and across the UK.
“Members of the Asian Restaurant Owners Network around the country are telling me the same. They are struggling today, because of Brexit, and long term from lack of government investment in skills development.
“Hospitality has been deprived of skills, Torquay is fuelled by tourism and has no training centres for hospitality, the facilitators of staycations.
“From the Asian hospitality perspective in the UK, worth £4.8 billion to the UK government, I ask government, with such limited formal training facilities here, where are we supposed to find skilled people for our hospitality team? We no longer have access to the European market which is where we were directed over the last 8 years.
“We are resilient and will somehow find a solution, we always do. But the long term under investment in training from government, and now closing the door to skilled, hard working people from Europe contributing to the UK economy seems a recipe to limit our ability to bounce back, and wider economic growth.”
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Hospitality & Catering News: Asian restaurateurs experiencing a recipe limiting their ability to bounce back. – 1 May 2021 – Asian restaurateurs experiencing a recipe limiting their ability to bounce back.
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