Will Brexit have a positive affect or a negative affect on the Hospitality Industry?

Introduction

In this blog I will give an overview as to how Brexit may affect the Hospitality Industry, what the possible outcomes could be? This post will also cover how Brexit cold be good for the industry and how it can bad for the Hospitality industry?

There are both positive effects and negative effects on the Hospitality industry when Brexit is considered.

Negative affect that Brexit will have on the Hospitality industry?

There is a massive skills shortage in the UK Hospitality industry and as 25%of  the Hospitality workforce are European workers Brexit will have a negative effect on the Hospitality industry. As seen in the Filimonau & Mika (2019) article who summarise that Polish migrant workers are moving home as the fear of Brexit looms over them and it is also hypothesized that they would not be interested in coming back to the UK in a Hospitality based role, however it is seen that individuals that work in Non-Hospitality are far happier in the UK than at home. This is also due to the fact that Hospitality roles are hard work due to long hors and not a lot of time off.

The cost of raw produce has risen by a massive 20% this has meant that individual small businesses have had to higher the prices which have made these businesses go out of business (Tredgett, 2017, 11 01). This is being seen on today’s high streets.

Positive affect that Brexit will have on the industry?

However; Tredgett, (2017, 11 01), suggests there has been talks of making a point system like there is in Australia, this would allow people to come to the UK if there is a need for the individuals skill for example Chefs as there is a massive skills shortage in the UK.  

Though; Brexit has pushed prices of raw produce up this could also be positive as small businesses could by local or regional produce which in turn is supporting the local economy and this will boost disposable income so customers will have more money to spend.

Individual thoughts on Brexit and will it be good or bad for the Hospitality Industry?

Tim Martin the owner of Weatherspoon’s is an avid backer of Brexit by creating a Brexit manifesto to show his support to leave the European Union here are his view and how he plans to take the company forward throughout Brexit and after it happens. Wetherspoon (2018) Tim’s view I that if the government lowers the taxes on food this will ultimately make it cheaper in shops and pubs, he also states that European Union workers should be granted UK citizenship this to support the points made earlier when stating about the skills shortage in the Hospitality Industry. He has also made trade deals with Non-European Union countries for alcoholic products.    

Conclusion

To conclude there are both positive and negative aspect to Brexit and how it will affect the Hospitality industry, as there is arguments to both sides that suggest that if Brexit is handled in the correct way then this could be very good for the industry but if Brexit is handled bad then this will result in the industry taking a massive hit by losing staff members of European Union background. This could also have a negative effect on the industry with small business not having the funds to absorb the rising cost of ingredients.

Reference List

Filimonau, V., & Mika, M. (2019). Return labour migration: an exploratory study of Polish migrant workers from the UK hospitality industry. Current Issues in Tourism, 22(3), 357-378.

Tredgett, G. (2017, 11 01). How Will Brexit Affect The Hospitality Industry? [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://back-2-front.co.uk/how-will-brexit-affect-the-hospitality-industry/.

Wetherspoon. (2018). The Wetherspoon Manifesto Wetherspoon launches 500,000 Brexit beer mats in its pubs. Retrieved from https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/tims-viewpoint/the-wetherspoon-manifesto.