The BRC has warned a crackdown on up to 200,000 EU workers employed in the industry risks robbing businesses of access to vital talent and skills.
After the prime minister and senior Conservatives promised measures to slash immigration at last week’s party conference, the BRC director general Helen Dickinson said it was campaigning for a “fair deal for EU colleagues” who must be given reassurances about their right to stay in the country.
“There needs to be certainty for these people working here that they can stay,” said Dickinson, speaking on BBC Radio 5 this morning.
“Retailers need to be able to have access to the skills and talent they need wherever that comes from.”
She said the UK retail industry employed between 100,000 and 200,000 EU nationals, making “a huge contribution in every type of role from the boardroom to distribution centres and customer service”.
Dickinson acknowledged that Theresa May did have a “valid” point in warning that Britain should not be a place dominated be “cheap labour”.
But she defended retailers’ records, saying they provided access to millions of entry-level jobs.
Last week, home secretary Amber Rudd used her speech at the Conservative Party conference to warn that foreign workers should not be able to “take the jobs that British people should do”.
The strength of the party’s message caused shockwaves among business leaders, with CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn also expressing alarm at the government’s “hard Brexit” stance on immigration, which she warned could “close the door” to the UK staying an open trading economy.
The FDF has also expressed its fears over the “huge uncertainty” faced by the many EU workers employed by suppliers in the food and drink industry.
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