Huw Merriman was invited to attend a special meeting of local restaurant owners at Centre State Hall in Bexhill on the 24th March 2016 to discuss the critical issue of chef recruitment that is affecting the British Bangladeshi Curry Industry.

Indian cuisine has become an important part of British culture. The industry is worth £4.5 billion with around 12,000 restaurants in operation, contributing around £1.5 billion pounds a year to the economy. On average, 100,000 employees serve around 2.5 million customers every week.  However, changes to UK immigration law has meant it is much more difficult for restaurant owners to recruit trained chefs from abroad. The British Bangladeshi Curry Industry estimates that nationally at least two restaurant close every week due to difficulties in recruiting and retaining chefs.

During the meeting the local restaurant owners explained to Huw that Indian restaurants were initially set up in early 1970's. The original owners and chefs that started the businesses are ready to retire but the younger generations want to pursue different careers. It has proved very difficult for the restaurant owners to find British or European nationals who want to train and work in this industry and they have therefore had to recruit chefs from outside the Europe who already work in Asian cuisine.

However, changes to the Tier 2 visa requirements for skilled workers from outside the EEA require a minimum pay of £29,570 and stipulate that the restaurant cannot provide a takeaway service.  These amendments have forced some restaurants to close because they cannot recruit local staff and the new minimum salary to grant a visa to a chef from abroad is at least £5000 more than a standard chef wage. Most Indian restaurants are family-owned businesses that require at least two chefs and they simply cannot afford to pay nearly £30k per chef.

The meeting was chaired by Mr Abdul Mukith (owner of Bengal Brasserie, Bexhill) and chaired by Mr Shamim Ahmed (owner of Angra, Bexhill). Other guests Bexhill Mayor Cllr Morris Watson, Rother District Council Chairman, Cllr Jimmy Carroll, and Bexhill Central Ward Councillor, Abul Azad. Also present were Mr M A Karim from Rye, Mr Nurul Amin, Ex-Councillor Ali Hyder, Abu Ahmed, Mostak Khan, Akmol Ali and other local restaurant owners.

A petition was raised and given to Huw to forward to the Home Office to ask the Government to re-examine the current policy which has affected every Indian restaurant in the UK. The meeting ended with a great choice of food and hope that the struggle will soon be over.

Huw said “Local restaurant owners have made their case to me very well.  I sympathise with these family-run businesses as they have tried very hard to recruit local people to work in their restaurants but the low level of local unemployment and the lack of enthusiasm for working in their sector has caused them real difficulties. I will be writing to the Immigration Minister to raise this issue with him and to see if there is anything that can be done to help an industry which makes a huge contribution to the UK economy and gastronomy.”