One curry restaurant is closing down per day in UK

Send
Aditi Khanna, London
Published : 07:30, Dec 04, 2018 | Updated : 07:30, Dec 04, 2018

Curry industry has repeatedly highlighted what it terms as “Brexit betrayal” by pro-Leave politicians who promised these restaurants, with their roots in Bangladesh, higher inflows from South Asia with easier visa rules once Britain leaves the EU.One of Britain’s leading Bangladesh-born restaurant industry chiefs has warned the UK government that the rate of closure of curry restaurants in the country has hit an alarming rate of one per day.
Enam Ali, founder of the British Curry Awards and a leading campaigner for the Bangladeshi food industry in the UK, warned that there is a current shortfall of nearly 30,000 skilled workers required to fill the immediate staffing gap in establishments referred to as “curry restaurants” in Britain.
“Staff shortages mean many of us are struggling to meet customer expectations, and it is almost impossible to expand as we would like to,” said Ali, who has set up Le Raj Academy in partnership with the North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT) in Epsom in south-east England to train the younger generation in the skills required.
“We, as an industry, are taking all necessary measures domestically, through establishing initiatives that are proactively engaging younger generations with the industry,” he said.
Ali has been lobbying the UK government to implement a major review of current legislation by granting short-term working visas that can be accessed by restaurant chiefs.
The curry industry has repeatedly highlighted what it terms as “Brexit betrayal” by pro-Leave politicians who promised these restaurants, with their roots in Bangladesh, higher inflows from South Asia with easier visa rules once Britain leaves the European Union (EU).
The biggest hurdle under current rules includes a salary threshold of £35,000 to be able to offer a curry chef’s job to a skilled worker from South Asia, an amount out of reach for most of smaller restaurants.
“The British curry industry really is one of Britain’s greatest success stories. From that first curry house 200 years ago has sprung a multi-billion-pound industry, which is modern, successful and thriving,” said British Prime Minister Theresa May in her message to this year’s British Curry Awards, held in London last week.
While she acknowledged that the vibrant industry generates “wealth, promotes growth and employs tens of thousands of people”, there was no reference to the crisis being faced by the industry at the event, which resulted in a series of awards for curry houses up and down the UK.
Some of the key winners for 2018 included Light of Bengal in Aberdeen as Best Spice Restaurant in Scotland and Chilli Tuk Tuk in London as Best Delivery Restaurant and Takeaway.
Bangladesh-born and Sweden-based Rezaul Karim was honoured with a Special Recognition Award for his contribution to the curry industry in Europe as the founder of the Indian Garden chain of restaurants in Sweden.

/hb/
Top