The bourgeoning British curry industry now rated at 3.6 billion-pound worth and mostly owned and run by Bangladeshi entrepreneurs is suffering from severe manpower shortage. It has at least 15,000 job opportunities at the moment for skilled chefs and mangers, according to a British resturer who believes the Bangladesh government should grab the opportunity to create more jobs for its nationals.
A leader of British-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BBCCI) has already presented a proposal to the British government requesting to pave the way of fulfilling the vacancies by hiring manpower from Bangladesh.
“We have of late, submitted a comprehensive proposal for around 15,000 jobs to the British Prime Minister…easing the immigration rules got paramount importance in the proposal,” Enam Ali, MBE, a NRB Bangladeshi entrepreneur and director of BBCCI, told the media last week.
Ali, who was born in Sylhet, came to the United Kingdom to study law as his parents wanted him to become a lawyer. But instead he completed a degree in Hospitality and Management to become a resturer. He earned a fellowship from the Royal Society of Arts.
In an exclusive interview, the restaurateur said the proposal is very comprehensive and contains lots of winnable arguments to address the manpower crisis in the curry industry.
“Immigration is good for any country of the world…flexible immigration procedure could be beneficial for both Bangladesh and the UK at win-win situation,” he said referring to the proposal. He said, he was very much optimistic that the proposal would get approval by this year end,” said Ali who has won the best community leader award from the House of Lords.
He said mid-generation people of Bangladesh origin in Britain are reluctant to build career in restaurant job as they want to be lawyer, doctor and engineer. So, he said, Bangladesh can easily reap the benefit by setting up cuisine training institutes.
The restaurer, also president of guild of Bangladeshi restaurateurs in the UK, described the immigration issue as a serious issue and said it has to be dealt with cautiously. It has been precisely described in his proposal, he said. “The British economic situation is getting better gradually…this is a good news for the curry industry in the UK,” he observed.
Referring to British Prime Minister David Cameron’s remarks in the ninth British Curry Awards-2013, the entrepreneur said the British government would help tackle the industry’s unique problems, like recruiting manpower from Bangladesh.
“The UK premier coined the Curry Awards as the ‘Oscar of the Curry industry…we’re very fortunate that the British Prime Minister showed unconditional support to help propel the cuisine industry encouraged by its contribution to the UK economy”.
There are around 9,500 restaurants in Britain, mostly owned and run by around 80,000 Bangladeshi employees with 3.6 billion pound annual turnover.
Source: Weekly Holiday