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Food

Top Chefs Don’t Want to Move to London Because of Brexit

The British Hospitality Association warns that uncertainty over the rights of EU citizens post-Brexit is deterring culinary talent from working in the capital.
Photo via Flickr user Franklin Heijnen

Many things are uncertain in this post-Brexit world. Could we find ourselves eating chlorine-washed chicken? Will we ever see the £3 meal deal again? And just how much more will we be expected to fork out for a Freddo?

These doubts extend to Britain's restaurant industry, too. According to the chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, an organisation that represents over 40,000 hotels, restaurants, food services, and leisure companies, worries about the rights of EU citizens and perceived hostility are deterring culinary talent from moving to the UK.

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READ MORE: What British Food and Drink Workers Really Think About Brexit

Speaking last week at a Culture, Media, and Sport Committee inquiry into the impact of Brexit on the tourism industry, Ufi Ibrahim warned the British Government that restaurants were struggling to hire chefs from outside the UK.

Ibrahim said that members of the BHA had reported recruitment difficulties since the EU referendum last June. She told the select committee that poor exchange rates following the devaluation of the pound, uncertainty over how long workers would be able to reside in the UK, and the unwelcoming tone of Government statements on immigration were all contributing factors.

Ibrahim said that London in particular was at risk of losing its growing status as one of the world's best cities for food. She explained: "There is a feeling of being unwelcome and unwanted, and that is having an impact, for example, on top chefs from France or Italy. It is becoming slightly difficult to attract that level of individual to come to the United Kingdom, which is a shame, particularly in London, which has now become the gastronomy capital of the world."

READ MORE: Brexit Has Made It Even Worse to Be an Eastern European Waitress

The BHA estimates that currently, at least 15 percent of positions in the hospitality industry—equivalent to nearly 700,000 jobs—are held by EU workers. The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said in a report last year that of this number, 96 percent would be ineligible to work under existing rules for non-EU nationals. In a written statement submitted to the Government in conjunction with the evidence Ibrahim gave, the BHA called for a guaranteed number of EU work visas for the hospitality and tourism industry.

The Government's inquiry continues.