VIEWS FROM
THE TOP ‘QUEEN BACKS BREXIT’ (at least according to The Sun)
“[Brexit has] potential risks around market function...”
(Bank of England governor Mark Carney)
“I don’t want to scare you but... there will be consequences if the United Kingdom is to leave the EU.” (French president Francois Hollande)
“It is not our place to tell people how to vote, but the CBI will play its role in making the economic case for remaining in the EU.”
(Confederation of British Industry director-general Carolyn Fairbairn)
“If the UK leaves the EU and there is a loss of freedom of movement of scientists between the UK and Europe, it will be a disaster...”
(Stephen Hawking and more than 150 Royal Society fellows in a letter to The Times)
The migrant maths
ACCORDING TO A REPORT BY THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD’S MIGRATION OBSERVATORY, 12 per cent of the workforce in the UK accommodation and food service industry – hotels and restaurants – are from European Union countries. Ten years ago, the figure was only 7 per cent.
The British Hospitality Association (BHA) reckons that the hospitality industry accounts for about 5 per cent of the UK’s total workforce of 31.4 million, or roughly 1.6 million people.
48 BBT MAY/JUNE 2016
On the basis of the Migration Observatory’s report, therefore, the sector currently employs around 188,000 EU migrants. Carlos Vargas-Silva, the Observatory’s senior researcher, says: “While the overall economic impacts of potential reductions in EU migration are likely to be relatively small, ending free movement would be more disruptive in some industries than in others. “Some businesses
now rely heavily on EU migrant workers and it’s difficult to predict how
they would adjust to a scenario of lower EU migration.” A Deloitte report commissioned by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) suggests that UK hotel and restaurant prices could rise if bosses had to recruit and train ‘home-grown’ staff members. However, that would appear to pre-suppose that foreign employees from EU member states would leave the UK if the referendum resulted in a Brexit – a scenario that seems unlikely.
“We simply won’t be able to replace overnight the skills these people bring to the UK if we were to leave the EU, and our economy will suffer.”
(James Hick, managing director of recruitment company Manpower)
difference to us – we’re still going to be flying to Europe. But being on the inside is going to make our life a lot easier in many ways. As a company, we want to stay in.” From the small- and medium-sized enterprise perspective, Corporate Traveller general manager Graeme Milne – whose travel management company is actively planning to strengthen its position in Europe – is quite clear. “Corporate Traveller and [Australian parent company] Flight Centre Travel Group are really only in the UK, so we are looking to open in at least a couple of other European markets in the next year or so. As far as the referendum is concerned, I think that for our industry, it would be better to stay in.” Not everyone in the travel manage- ment community is convinced, however. Confronted with the question as to whether the UK should leave the EU,
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