In a new cross-industry report, the UK food and drink sector is asking for a 12-month Covid-19 Recovery Visa to help alleviate the current workforce shortages across the supply chain.

The report was produced by Grant Thornton on behalf of industry members such as British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF), Dairy UK, and the Food and Drink Federation (FDF). It has been sent to government ministers and aims to highlight the impact the pandemic and the UK’s post-Brexit immigration policy is having on the sector’s ability to recruit key workers.

According to the report, of the 953,000 current vacancies across all sectors in the UK, over half of them are in the food and drink sector. The scale of this problem is seen more clearly when it is considered that the sector employs over 4.1 million people and contributes over £120 billion to the UK economy.

The food and drink sector also has an aging workforce. Estimates from the report suggest that one in four workers are due to retire within the next 10 years, which amounts to over one million people leaving the industry.

The NFU has said that the report sets out “clear ways” that the government can help the food and drink industry overcome the current workforce challenges. These include:

• The introduction of a 12-month Covid-19 Recovery Visa which would enable all involved throughout the supply chain to recruit critical roles, such as HGV drivers, as a short-term response to labour shortages
• Commitment to a permanent, revised and expanded Seasonal Worker Scheme for UK horticulture to ensure it is flexible and large enough to meet the industry’s workforce needs
• An urgent review by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) on the impact of ending free movement on the food and farming sector, in the same way it is doing for adult social care.

“A perfect storm”

Richard Harrow, chief executive of the British Frozen Food Federation, said: “Labour shortages throughout the food supply chain are creating a ‘perfect storm’ of increasing costs for our members. Whilst the long-term solution is to train more UK nationals, we will only avoid further disruption to food supplies and inflationary cost increases by taking the temporary visa measures this report is recommending.”

Chief executive of Dairy UK, Dr Judith Bryans, added that the food sector is “investing into the skills and recruitment of its workforce” to address the current issues, and that Dairy UK is “strongly urging” the government to act upon the recommendations within the report.

The Food and Drink Federation’s chief executive, Ian Wright CBE, said that the report made it “crystal clear” that today’s labour shortages are being caused by “a multitude of structural factors beyond those created by Covid-19 and the end of the Brexit transition period.”

Wright went on to say that the recommendations set out within the report “provide industry and the government with highly practical solutions.” However, the chief executive added: “It is also evident that without fast action the labour challenges will continue.

“If they do, we can expect unwelcome consequences such as reduced choice and availability for consumers, increased prices, and reduced growth across the domestic food chain.”