Leicester Mercury
Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 09:30
Curry house owners believe moves to clamp down on immigration could harm their businesses.
Indian restaurants in Leicester say the UK's first cap on non-EU arrivals could make it harder for them to recruit homegrown chefs.
Home Secretary Theresa May has introduced a temporary limit on immigrants to prevent a "surge" of applicants in the run-up to the permanent cap next April.
But restaurant bosses say their businesses rely on chefs who have wide experience of working in eateries all over India and come to the UK to earn a living.
They fear the cap could make it harder for them to bring talent from overseas – meaning the quality of curries could suffer.
Bobby's Indian restaurant, in Belgrave, presently employs two Indian chefs who came to the UK on work visas.
Partner Dharmesh Lakhani said that finding staff with the right experience was hard enough as it was.
He said: "It's always been a problem. You can have people train up as chefs in the UK, but it's not the same as having a chef who has worked in restaurants in India and know about all the different styles of cooking.
"That's really important for good Indian restaurants. If they make it harder to recruit these people, it could definitely be damaging for business.
"What if we wanted to expand, or if one of our current chefs left and we weren't able to replace them?"
Mr Lakhani, who is also chairman of Belgrave Business Association, said other specialist businesses in the area, such as tailors and spice millers, could also find it hard to get the right staff.
Abu Taher, owner of T & K Balti, in Green Lane Road, Evington, said: "It's very hard to find the right people for the kitchen. We need to be able to bring in staff from overseas.
"I believe the cap is something that will concern all restaurants, big and small."
Leicester businessman Jaffer Kapasi, who runs accountancy firm JA Kapasi & Co, said: "I'm cautious about the way the Government is handling this.
"It goes for Indian restaurants, but it affects other businesses too.
"If we are able to bring in people who have been educated in India or East Africa, for example, we are getting people who are ready-made for business and will work efficiently and consistently."
Suleman Nagdi, spokesman for the Leicester Federation of Muslim Organisations, said the Government was right to curb the number of people entering the UK, but admitted that some firms could suffer.
He said: "I definitely feel we need to have some kind of control on numbers, particularly in light of the economic situation we are in.
"However, capping alone will not work because the vast majority are coming from the EU – I don't know if it will make that much difference."
Mrs May insists that business concerns will be taken into account in a consultation on how to manage the cap.