By Denis Sheehan FIH
Following the second world war the UK faced enormous labour shortages due to the devastating loss of lives. This led the Government at the time to encourage people from Commonwealth countries, particularly the Caribbean and South Asian nations, to come to the UK to live and work filling countless vacant job roles, including those in hospitality and catering.
The influx of people from many different parts of the world came not only with a willingness to work but also their culinary traditions, adding diversity to the UK’s culinary scene.
The arrival of people from across the world had a profound impact on the UK’s hospitality industry, helping to revitalise businesses. Many new arrivals found work in hotels, restaurants, pubs, and catering services. This injection of labour was crucial in expanding the industry and meeting growing demand for hospitality. Over time, as immigrant communities grew and established themselves, they also set up their own businesses, leading to the proliferation of ethnic restaurants and eateries that offered diverse and authentic cuisines.
The positive influence of immigrant cultures on the UK’s hospitality landscape cannot be overstated. Restaurants offering Indian, Caribbean, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cuisines, among many others, became an integral part of British culinary culture. These establishments not only introduced new flavours and ingredients but also facilitated cultural exchange, as the nation embraced these new food experiences.
As the years went by, immigration continued to shape the hospitality sector. The UK’s membership of the European Union allowed for the free movement of people across 27 European countries, further diversifying the industry’s labour force and culinary offerings. European chefs, waitresses and waiters, and hotel personnel became an integral part of many establishments, contributing their skills and expertise to the UK’s hospitality. Many entrepreneurs also came from Europe to the UK setting up businesses that would become part of the culinary landscape.
In 1967 French brothers Albert and Michel Roux gathered their savings, borrowed some money, and opened Le Gavroche, in London’s Mayfair. In 1974, the Roux brothers were awarded a Michelin star for Le Gavroche. In 1977, they were awarded a second. By 1985 they held three Michelin stars at both Le Gavroche and The Waterside Inn. In 1984, the first Roux Scholarship competition took place at Inn on the Park and the winner was 20-year-old Andrew Fairlie, who went on to hold two Michelin stars at his eponymous restaurant at Gleneagles. The Roux Scholarship fostered a ‘truly unique place’ in the development of British cuisine. There are many others, Antonio Carluccio, Raymond Blanc, Claude Bosi, to name but a few.
The decision to leave the European Union following the Brexit referendum ended freedom of movement from the 27 EU countries into the UK and vice versa. This unsurprisingly caused labour shortages as so many Europeans were unable to enter and work in the UK.
The government that gave us Brexit being all too busy in attempts to implement it also failed to plan for home grown replacements in the workforce, resources were not added to boost vocational training. This has seen most hospitality and catering businesses struggle to find people to fill vacancies. The tight labour market has in turn fuelled wage inflation as more and more companies were forced to up salaries to compete in a diminishing recruitment pool. This in turn drove many to reduce opening hours, reducing trade not through lower demand for services but an inability to deliver them.
The architects and acolytes of Brexit pulled up the drawbridge. The extreme right wing conservative party are now preoccupied with disseminating as much anti-immigration propaganda as they gamble the electorate can stomach to justify a policy that by the day continues to worsen our economy.
The economic cost of Brexit is now glaringly obvious to all but those that choose not to acknowledge facts. The conservative party’s propaganda continues to add insult to injury ensuring their strenuous effort to offend lives long in the memory of those they target to affront.
The substantial economic cost continues to build, as will the even greater cultural cost of recent political conduct.