UKHospitality have responded to yesterday’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Report on labour shortages in the food and farming sector which said that the sector faces permanent damage if the Government fails to address the lack of workers resulting mainly from the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.
In response to the Report, UKHospitality CEO, Kate Nicholls, said, “This report echoes the evidence UKHospitality gave to the committee last year, which highlighted that chronic labour shortages – 400,000 vacancies in the sector at the last count – are already harming the attempts of businesses in the sector to rebuild cash reserves and shattered balance sheets. A failure to tackle the issue now will stifle the sector’s ability to drive the wider economic recovery and we share the committee’s warning that fundamental change is needed to if wage rises are not to trigger significant price increases in the sector, further damaging hopes of recovery.
“We want to work hand-in-hand with the Government to examine, review and reset all the policies that we had pre-Covid in order to ensure that the immigration, training and skills policies we have now are fit for purpose in a post-pandemic market.”
The chronic skill shortages are why Hospitality Rising – a marketing initiative to help solve the issue, has been created, which is being backed by the Hospitality and Tourism Skills Board.
Mark McCulloch, who has funded the initiative, says, “Hospitality Rising is creating the BIGGEST advertising campaign that the UK has ever seen to change the perception of working in hospitality for the better and would love your support / input / amplification. We are in the process of raising £5m and the creative is being led by Google’s lead creative agency.”
He adds, “We are asking every hospitality business and supplier to invest £10+VAT per employee to help us hit our £5m target. We need everyone in hospitality to come together to stop the recruitment crisis forever.
“We currently have £600k committed and are upping the ante on fundraising until May 12th 2022 when the fundraiser will end. “
Scottish companies that have signed up include Buzzworks, Montpeliers, DRG and Manorview. While in England The Bath Pub Company, Wahaca, Punch, and many others, have committed.
Detailed Return on Investment Presentation and Investment Forms are here: www.hospitalityrising.org or here as a slideshow: https://www.slideshare.net/northernsvengali/hospitality-rising-investor-deck-detailed