The british curry under threat by UK immigration laws

November 06 2009 by Liam Clifford

New chefs are unable to gain the necessary skills and guidance they need say industry insiders.

Business leaders in the Indian community say that the changes in law governing the issuing of short-term UK visas is having an effect on the continued success of the curry industry.

They cite the 2005 UK visa changes as now having a delayed effect, with young chefs now unable to learn from the most skilled from the Asian subcontinent.

The industry, which is worth an estimated £4bn a year, complained of the changes in UK short-term visas when they were first made. Most businesses found they could no-longer bring in foreign chefs and as a consequence had to look elsewhere for the staff they needed.

Rajesh Suri, who owns the first Michelin starred Indian restaurant believes that this is a real threat to the curry trade and the 100,000 people employed within it.

"No one is going to invest thousands of pounds in a restaurant if there's no guarantee they'll find adequate chefs.

I know of at least 15 restaurants in the past year that have had their openings delayed because they simply couldn't find the chefs. The government risks killing off the local curry house industry."

This is a view echoed by many within the industry, but according to UK immigration there are no plans on changing policy.