There has been widespread backlash amongst the hospitality industry at the UK Government’s proposals for a new, points-based immigration system coming into force from 2021.

According to Big Hospitality, foreign nationals make up around 43% of the UK’s hospitality workforce and a similar KPMG report estimates that 62,000 EU migrants per annum are needed to maintain the status quo. The new system would see many hospitality workers forced to return home if the Government proceed with their plans.

Representing, the food and drink sector in Scotland, James Wither responded to these proposals with the following statement:

 “An ongoing, open immigration policy is essential for Scotland’s food and drink industry to be successful. We have 40,000 jobs needing filled in the coming years and today’s announcement has made that a much more difficult prospect.

“Much of our farming, food and drink sector is based in rural and island areas. In many of those places, there simply isn’t the available workforce. This is not about protecting access to cheap labour, it’s about access to talented, hard-working people whom we need to attract to Scotland.

“This now makes the debate over a specific Scottish visa much more important. Similar models have worked in other countries and given the distinct value of immigration to Scotland, we are going to need a far more creative immigration system than the one we’ve seen emerge today. Otherwise, we have a seriously rocky road ahead.”

- James Withers, Chief Executive