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Starved of skilled chefs, Britain is facing a chicken tikka masala crisis

Starved of skilled chefs, Britain is facing a chicken tikka masala crisis

In 2001, foreign secretary Robin Cook declared chicken tikka masala as Britain’s national dish, putting a stamp of official approval to the country’s first foray into the exotic foods aisle—the curry. While the past 16 years have seen curry remain something of a staple, the industry propping it up has fallen on hard times. Faced with a pronounced staffing shortage, as well as rising costs, some experts have predicted that a third of the UK’s estimated 17,000 curry houses could face closure over the next decade. That’s something for a sector that employs over 100,000 people and contributes over £4 billion to the British exchequer.

Around 90% of curry houses in the UK are owned by British Bangladeshis, largely hailing from the northeastern city of Sylhet. With second-generation migrants increasingly unwilling to enter the family trade, restaurants have been reliant on sourcing skilled labour from back home. But this has become increasingly difficult with the Home Office’s attempts to bring down net migration. As of April 2016, restaurants face a £2,000 fee on importing skilled labour, as well as a work permits scheme that imposes a salary threshold of £29,750, including rent and accommodation.

For most restaurateurs, this is simply not realistic.

Oli Khan, celebrity chef and vice president of the Bangladesh Caterers Association (BCA), the industry’s largest trade body, is one of them. At the Spice Rouge, his curry house in Stevenage in Hertfordshire, Khan pays his chefs between £18,000 and £25,000. In early 2016, when Khan and BCA faced a staffing crisis, they responded to overtures of help from an unlikely source: the Leave Campaign of the Brexit Referendum, which canvased in favour of the UK’s departure from the European Union.

“There were very mixed messages going through to the public during the time of the referendum. A lot of people were confused—even me,” Khan said. “They came to us—the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and cabinet minister Priti Patel. And they said to us, ‘There is your opportunity. If we come out of the European Union, then where do we have to go—the Commonwealth countries.’” With the prospect of a more favourable immigration policy towards chefs coming from the Indian subcontinent, the BCA lent its support to the Leave Campaign. Patel went so far as to announce a national “Save the British Curry Day” before the vote in June 2016. Read more…

Starved of skilled chefs, Britain is facing a chicken tikka masala crisis

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