It's a cold, rainy day in Bradford and the balti restaurants and fast food outlets offering "desi" [Asian] milkshakes, have yet to fill up. But close by, the industrial kitchen of the International Food Academy is already buzzing with activity. Angelo Towse, 33, is frowning in concentration as he carefully folds, and stuffs, samosas. By the stainless steel sinks, former bricklayer Joel Stafford, 26, is patting mince on to skewers for kebabs while Awais Mumtaz, 20, whose father owns Mumtaz, one of Bradford's best-known restaurants, is learning to make a stuffing and roast potatoes. It may not quite equal the heat and noise of an Indian restaurant, but kitchens like this could be the future of the British curry industry.
Since May, Bradford College has been training 50 youngsters to make – alongside Chinese and English dishes – curries, rotis and samosas. The dishes are sold everyday in the college canteen to students and staff – and while it may not be exactly the same as Mummyji used to make, the seekh kebabs, lamb green chilli, fish tikka masala and naan I try are fresh and tasty. There are plans to expand the course to 100 students this year, and programme director Graham Fleming hopes to persuade local restaurants to fund a city-centre premises, with branded stations where students can learn to cook in the style of the sponsor's kitchen. "We started with no intention of becoming a 'curry academy'," Fleming says. "But because of the cry from the Asian sector we thought we would focus on that and get the restaurants to support what we are doing."
Bobby Patel, from nearby Prashad, whose head chef – his wife Minal – teaches at the academy, says the project makes sense since the recession left a million young people out of work. "My younger brother is looking to develop into fast lunchtime food – wraps, paninis. We are looking to people who have had an exposure to Asian cuisine; they have had health and safety training, and they are hungry for a career."
It should be music to the ears of Eric Pickles who, in reports that delighted headline writers in November, suggested a "curry college" to train British people to become chefs in Indian restaurants. While his Department for Communities and Local Government refused to confirm, or expand on, the idea, which is believed to be part of the government's integration strategy, it issued a statement saying: "The government is continuing to look at how it can best support British talent in Asian cuisine, working with the sector to ensure employees have the right skills."
The bland words hide a growing crisis in the country's curry industry. The figures for the sector may seem robust – the trade magazine Spice Business, for instance, suggest that, every week, 2.5 million customers eat in one of 10,000 restaurants employing 80,000 staff, making the industry worth £3.6bn (not all sources are so generous – the industry authority the Curry Club puts the sector's turnover at £2.5bn, while food industry analysts Horizons FS put it at £777m). And by 2002, Indian food in supermarkets alone was worth £600m – 80% of which was ready-meal curries.
David Cameron certainly thinks the Asian entrepreneurs involved in the business are important enough to cultivate. Last month, he joined, albeit by videolink, an unlikely set of guests, including Charlie Brooker and Boris Johnson, at the industry's British Curry awards. According to its enthusiastic founder Enam Ali (who also owns Spice Business magazine), the glamour and power on display could rival the Oscars.
But the night's glitter could not hide the anxiety of an industry squeezed between the recession and the government's strict immigration policy. Made up of independent, small – and for the most part family-run – businesses, curry houses have been hit hard as customers eat at home. Analyst Peter Backman, of Horizons FS, says that while the restaurant industry has just stopped growing, the Indian restaurant sector is doing even worse, with profits falling. Pat Chapman, founder of the Curry Club, and author of the Good Curry Guide, notes, "You just instinctively know they are struggling", while Backman adds that he is "increasingly gloomy" about the sector's outlook for the next few years, believing Indian restaurants will "continue to lose share to the rest of the eating out market" if the recession continues.
The sector is already reeling from the effect of the government's restrictions on south Asian chefs. For years, the skill and pay levels required for chefs to enter Britain has been a cause for concern. In 2008, Ali warned that the policy could "decimate" the industry, which relies on foreign chefs to whip up everything from Sinhalese string hoppers to various vindaloos. And raids on restaurants that ignore the rules are common. But then, in March, the desire to slash immigration figures even further led the government to announce only the top 5% of the most skilled chefs – who must earn more than £28,260 per year – now qualify for admission to the UK.
According to Ali, this has left one in four vacancies in Indian restaurants unfilled. "It's a very difficult time," he says. "I want to make sure my son and daughter are involved in the industry and a new generation is engaged. But if you don't have a chef, you can spend millions on a restaurant but you will go bankrupt." Smaller outlets have complained the vacancies are changing the food they serve, making them rely on easier-to-make fusion dishes, and warning that frozen food will become more commonplace. At the other end of the sector, Ranjit Mathrani, the chief executive of Masala World, which employs 5,000 people and, among others, owns London's Veerasawamy, the country's oldest surviving Indian restaurant, claims the chef shortage has brought the group's expansion up short as surely as the recession.
The company, he points out, could not use "curry college" chefs, because they only allow chefs to cook dishes from their home regions, he says, so they can offer their customers authentic Indian food. "There are still opportunities, but we have had to hold back. We have stopped expanding in London because of the government's rules, which are misguided. If we can't get the chefs, we have no other option but to look abroad."
He points out that despite advertising in jobcentres and being happy to take on apprentices, few British applicants come forward for jobs at his restaurants. Second-generation British Asians are reluctant to join the industry, including the children of restaurant owners. Wasim Tayyab, who along with his three brothers and wife runs Tayyabs restaurant in Whitechapel in east London, which his parents set up in 1972, says his situation is rare. "I have been working here since I was 17 and I'm 37 now," he says. "I started on the basics, peeling, washing, cleaning. I wanted to do this, but your social life goes out of the window."
In the kitchen of Tayyabs, the curry house in Whitechapel that has become an east London institution. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
The sector also has an image problem, according to Ali: "My son's generation feel embarrassed to work in the Indian restaurant industry. They think it undervalues their skills and it has a stigma attached." And many restaurant owners also prefer more aspirational careers for their children, such as medicine or accountancy.
In his cut-glass accent, Mathrani says the government's policy does not distinguish between restaurants that serve specific, regional dishes, which he considers part of the ethnic food market, and the majority of curry houses which, he points out, serve "a form of cooking curries which is indigenous to the UK and that does not exist in authentic Indian cooking in India. They are not Indian restaurants in the proper sense of the word."
It is a common argument. The term curry has no equivalent in India. While Indian restaurants first appeared in England in the 19th century, catering for Asian seamen and students, and then multiplied in the 1950s and 60s to feed the newly arrived south Asian factory workers, their boom time only begun in the 70s, when they adapted their menus for a working-class, white clientele. By 1982, there were 3,500 Indian restaurants in Britain and "going for a curry" became a standard evening out. Today it may be more fashionable to profess a love for south Indian dosas or Kashmiri rogan josh, but specialist regional restaurants are still a minority. Bangladeshis run 85-90% of the Indian restaurants in the UK, most of which rely on tried and tested Anglicised favourites such as vindaloo or tikka masala.
This journey from exotic treat to British comfort food, however, has given curry an emotional pull few other cuisines can rival. That has been something politicians are happy to point out – the late Robin Cook, for instance, memorably announced that chicken tikka masala is the nation's favourite dish. But the way Indian food has been received has also highlighted tensions around the south Asian diaspora. The rule change to clamp down on chefs, for example, is seen by many as targeting immigrants from south Asia in the context of other mooted policies such as raising the age of spouse visas or raising the income threshold for those who wish to bring family members to the UK. In the 60s and 70s, anxieties about south Asian immigration were often voiced under the cover of complaining about the smell of curry, according to Elizabeth Buettner of the University of York. In the Journal of Modern History, she points out "the view that Asians and their surroundings 'stank of curry' … became deployed by landlords to explain why they refused Asians as tenants". In factories, too, British workers are reported to have refused to work with Asian immigrants "because they could not bear the smell of garlic". The insistence on cooking curries was also seen as an indication of the new immigrants' refusal to assimilate.
But walking down London's Brick Lane, with its razzle of neon lighting, discount offers and lengthy Identikit menus, it is easy to see how curry houses have adapted to meet demand, just as the British grew to love curries. Yet the lines of small competing restaurants also highlight the problems inherent in the industry's economic model. Offering cheap meals to young people in a newly affluent society was possible through cutting corners in the preparation of the food, but also by paying low wages to staff. So perhaps it is no surprise that on the same day restaurant owners at the British Curry awards were watching dazzling dance troupes, a group of restaurant workers from the newly formed Bangladeshi Worker's Union voted to join the GMB in a bid to improve conditions.
Organisers were told of waiters, chefs and porters paid below minimum wage and made to work extraordinarily long hours, with no paid holiday and no sick pay.
One former restaurant worker who joined up points out this was possibly, in part, because so many of the workers were vulnerable, recent immigrants. "Some owners treat workers like animals," he says. "Sometimes they just pay £3.50 an hour. If, after one or two years, they ask for more – maybe minimum wage – they are told to leave. They can't speak English, so they take this opportunity to work. I have friends all over the UK who are from Bangladesh and they face the same conditions."
Tessa Wright, of Queen Mary, University of London, who interviewed ethnic minority and migrant workers in the catering and hotel industry in 2005, said 50- to 60-hour weeks were common for workers. "Conditions were pretty awful," she says, but owners gave the impression that they believed the authorities knew about it. "It was kind of accepted that this is how these sorts of business ran."
Azmal Hossein runs four restaurants on Brick Lane and helped set up the union to end the exploitation. He thinks a curry college could help – if it was funded properly. "If the [Asian] workers here had proper rights, they wouldn't need to import [more] people. It makes me angry. Bangladeshi chefs don't have the health and safety or hygiene training they need here."
Yet restaurant owners say that while a string of colleges with good teaching could help ease the problem for certain restaurants, it would not suit all restaurants – and it may not be enough to protect the industry. Mathrani, among others, points out it would take years to train chefs to the standards he requires for a specialist restaurant if they had not grown up with the food. And Backman points out it would not solve the problems of the recession. "When Indian food came in, it offered a new eating out experience, but it has not moved on beyond that," he says. "I think the Indian restaurant market needs to reinvent itself . It needs a high-spending demographic."
Patel agrees: "People want a change. So far, innovation in the Indian restaurant scene has been about ambience – going upmarket and being contemporary – but how much more contemporary can you be than your last neon-style restaurant?" Having been in the final of TV reality show Ramsay's Best Restaurant he thinks there is now a focus on innovation in the kitchen and a changing serving style. His Gujarati restaurant, Prashad, focuses on modern Indian cooking, he says, and takes inspiration from leading London restaurants The Cinnamon Club and Tamarind.
So is this the death of the curry house as we know it? At 2.30pm on a Thursday, I visit a slightly scruffy, packed Pakistani restaurant round the back of the East London mosque. A group of young women in bright headscarves are heading for the door past a boisterous group of lunching office workers in suits. On my right, doctor Nadia Javed is tucking into her lamb karahi with rice and naan in her lunch break from the nearby Royal Infirmary, while on my left cab driver Simon Hope, 32, has popped in between fares to wolf down a huge meal of lamb chops, lamb karahi, prawns and naan. Both are regulars at Tayyabs, a London institution, famous for its long queues and low prices. A plate of spicy lamb chops is placed in front of me. It sizzles so loudly it sounds like a round of applause for an industry that deserves to be celebrated.
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8 January 2012 9:14PM
Well Simon Hopes cab is one to avoid!!
8 January 2012 9:19PM
In the short term there may be a problem, but in the medium and longer term restaurant owners need to learn to recruit from within the EU, either by backing college initiatives and offering placements to students or by taking on appretices - with a million unemployed young people there will be takers, but they need to be treated as trainees, with a proper programme, preferbly linked to a college and NVQ's - as many industries already do eg hairdressing. As to the specialist regional cooking, most indian restaurants do not serve such food, or they make up a very small part of the menu .... but thats the whole idea of appreticeships, you teach.
8 January 2012 9:21PM
So if this food is not actually authentic, but designed to suit the indigenous British, why can they not train the indegenous British to cook it?
8 January 2012 9:21PM
Hungry now. At least you've done my local takeaway a favour.
8 January 2012 9:22PM
What rubbish. Under the labour governments of Blair and Brown scams like the 'Asian Curry Chef' and the 'Asian Halal butcher' were used as schemes to bring in economic migrants, mainly the family members of the owners of these establishments. With the state of the economy as it is and the levels of unemployment there is no reason on earth why these jobs should not be filled by British workers. This will of course require minimum wage laws to be properly enforced which is very often not the case in many of these businesses.
8 January 2012 9:26PM
well there are far to many curry houses so it goes without saying that there will be closures just like other businesses closing in the uk!
as far as the less than minimum wage thing and no sick pay, this is a good reason for immigrants to learn the language of a country they are going to plus we all no there are a number of immigrants working in takeaways that shouldn't even be in this country hence why they do not get treated correctly as they are illegal
8 January 2012 9:31PM
Why can't indian restaurants work the same way as other types ie you have a head chef who teachers sous chefs the way? Why do you always need to bring in people from abroad? My father worked in an indian restaurant and most of the people brought in from abroad had no"skill" and were treated badly because they could be exploited (usually when their visa ran out). Training UK youth via apprenticeships would be a great idea and it gives hope that one day they could go on to open their own place.
8 January 2012 9:31PM
Curry 'chefs', my ass. This must be the biggest insult ever to anyone who is a real chef. Pouring ready-made sauces over half-rotten meat can't be too difficult for the legions of un/underemployed Asian (or other) youths in this country.
PS: the above does *not* refer to Al-Tayyab which is, indeed, excellent! However, just have a look into the kitchens in the general area of this restaurant and you'll know exactly what I mean.
8 January 2012 9:31PM
I remember that Keith Vaz has twice campaigned for 20,000 Bangladeshi waiters and kitchen staff to be allowed to come to the UK.
Interestingly, the last time he claimed the shortage of staff would have a serious impact on the trade, the number of Bangladeshis claiming unemployment benefit and stating their skills/ trade was waiters, kitchen staff was 20,000!
8 January 2012 9:32PM
There are 2.64 million people in this country who are unemployed, of whom a sizeable proportion will be from an Indian, Bangladeshi or Pakistani background, should that be a relevant criterion. The idea therefore that it is a stricter immigration policy which is limiting curry houses is to approach the difficulty from the wrong angle. Why is it that with 2.64m people unemployed in this country, we are still incapable of finding people capable of working in, being skilled in, or being trained to work in, a restaurant that serves British style curries.
Perhaps it is a lack of training, a lack of opportunity, or perhaps sometimes an unwillingness in some restaurants' cultures to have anyone working in the restaurant that does not fit the ethnic demographic of the restaurants brand. Should these, in particular training, not be areas that we address? And in any other industry, by the way, this lack of diversity would be racism. I am paying for the food to be of a certain national style, not for the waiter or chef to be.
And just how difficult is it to cook a curry at your bog-standard curry house? They are frequently of very poor quality, and are made up (when applied to my taste buds) from variations of around 3-4 generic sauces, though a good curry is of course magnificent. I suspect that the general poor quality (with the stellar being the exception) is also a reason for many curry houses struggling. People have rumbled the generic mass produced low quality curry as being bits of poor quality cuts of meat floating in a sea of yoghurt and oil, with some spice. Which is not, by the way, what a good curry should be.
8 January 2012 9:34PM
The biggest problem I have with the "curry trade" is the utter lack of diversity on offer. South Asian cuisine is NOT a monolithic hotch-potch of curry (other world cusines have curries too by the way), chicken tikka, vindaloo, korma, balti and tandoori.
By subsuming these dishes into the lazy generic term of "Indian" is to miss out on the variety in each part of the Subcontinent. All the meals I listed above are generally synonymous with North Indian and Pakistani palates.
What about the Goan dishes? Sri Lankan? South Indian? Gujarati? The latter two are quite distinct to the more 'mainstream' tastes, as diets from said regions are vegetarian. Venture into the neighbourhoods of Leicester or East Ham in London. Not the glitziest of places, but the food on offer is fantastic.
8 January 2012 9:35PM
I cooked a curry last night, it was bang on it.
8 January 2012 9:35PM
Curries are one of the few things that make life in the UK barely tolerable. The protection of the curry industry is absolutely paramount, if the country is threatened with overcrowding we should just expel a few hundred thousand EDL vermin, no-one would miss 'em.
8 January 2012 9:36PM
One problem with employing non family staff, especially if the recruits were non Asian British is that the owners might have to declare their true takings, rather than suppress about 40-70% as at present.
Keeping in the family is a safer bet.
8 January 2012 9:38PM
Judgematt
"to learn the language of a country they are going to plus we all no there are a number of immigrants working in takeaways"
'Learning the language of a country'......fine sentiment......such as knowing the difference between 'no' and 'know' perhaps....?
8 January 2012 9:42PM
The question is; Can the nation survive curry houses. As much as I love a bit of Korma and kulfi, some of that stuff is more lethal than a heavy does of fat from McDonald's.
8 January 2012 9:46PM
Curry houses would survive a nuclear war.
8 January 2012 9:48PM
I'm conflicted over this.
On one hand i love my curry and i need my Chicken Tikka Chasni from a decent Indian curryhouse.
But on the other hand from experience the majority of curry "chefs" in my area are rubbish.
In Edinburgh its an open fact that most Indian take aways , and Indian restaurants cant make Chasni properly, so i have to get it from its birthplace through in Glasgow. And its not for the want of staff in Edinburgh. They just arent up to the job, due to a lack of probable cooking and language skills.
So to me its not a case of bringing more people in. Its a case of bringing better competent workers in. Quality not quantity. And in that respect the curry industry isnt up to the job of being able to do that. So its their fault and not anything to do with immigration policy.
Dont blame civil servants for poorly made curry. Thats the chef's and gaffer's fault.
8 January 2012 9:48PM
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8 January 2012 9:49PM
"we all no there are a number of immigrants working in takeaways that shouldn't even be in this country hence why they do not get treated correctly as they are illegal"
Your English should be made illegal! Maybe a good idea to learn the language yourself before criticising immigrants' English.
8 January 2012 9:52PM
lol good eyes my friend, but who say's im from this country! so now come up with a comment on the matter rather than nit picking
8 January 2012 9:55PM
A sous chef who needs to be taught? Neither you nor any of the souls who have recommended you know very much about the industry, do you?
8 January 2012 9:55PM
You can't go around picking on other people's English if your own is so patently flawed.
It doesn't matter whether you are English or from the Moon. Hypocrisy is hypocrisy.
8 January 2012 9:57PM
Agree with the general sentiment that it's no specialist skill to be a curry chef. There's no loss of authenticity if the curries arent authentic in the first place.
The curry houses just want to protect their lot, i.e. immigration loop holes, employing and exploiting cheap labour. 99 percent of the curry industry needs to sort its stuff out and start preparing some authentic asian food without the ghee lard and spend a bit of cash on fresher and healthier ingredients.
All the curry I eat that friends and family make is 300percent better than any crap at a takeaway restaurant. Theyve been pulling the wool over our eyes for too long. premade sauces that are all the same.. "ohh let me add me some chilli to make it a Jalfrezi, or if they want a Dhansak i'll add some lentils instead." rubbish!
8 January 2012 9:57PM
Starving after reading this.
But the real reason for the staff shortage is surely the poor pay and conditions.
The service industry is always short of staff.
If these places are paying sub minimum wage then they need reforming.
Yes, we'd all have to pay a bit more for our curry but it's only fair.
8 January 2012 9:58PM
nice to see the foreigners pointing out a little typo, but no need to be so rude and racist! Are you just one of those that like to repeat others who have pointed it out already in a pathetic attempt to get a recommend to satisfy your need for acknowledgement. ill thumbs up your comments as well then just to put a smile on your face, enjoy!
8 January 2012 9:58PM
If we can have a curry college, can we first have a Thai Massage college to train some wonderful Thai people to improve the health & lives of many millions of British people - injured, disabled, old, depressed. It would lower the NHS health bill, and improve quality of life!
8 January 2012 10:03PM
Your intelligence-poor rant is racist. You offer no proof to back up your claim of sauces poured over half rotten meat as being confined to Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi restaurants. Exactly the same claim was used against the French of a time when the British referred to them as Johnny-foreigner. You are so nineteenth century.
8 January 2012 10:05PM
Tayabbs is overrated. Quite tasty, but forget going on an evening. Ridiculously rammed meaning that people are queing right next to your table, making the experience unenjoyable. I couldn't even get to the toilet because of the amount of people inside.
Mountain View in Blackheath however...nom nom nom.
8 January 2012 10:06PM
lets get something straight, there is no picking involved only the fact that basic english should be learned to know what these people are entitled to when working over here.
pointing out what others have done is by the way picking on an individual, you must be very proud of yourself to be sat there wasting time trolling away
8 January 2012 10:07PM
I'm so hungry! The typical old school Indian restaurants in Vancouver Canada have been phasing out and turning into high end south asian restaurants that look chic and celebrities frequent. Not traditional food, but lots of fusion. I live in the boonies and have little choice. A couple via India, via UK to Canada took over a pizza/greek place and they still offer that awful low end stuff, but started adding indian food to their menu. They started with having family members do the cooking, but they aren't necessarily superb. The ingredients are okay, the quality is always different depending on if a mummyj is in the kitchen or not. .But even though people love the Indian food and really would like a proper Indian restaurant, the owners won't do it. The area is full of recent retirees, hiding rich people, people from all over the world who would love a decent curry house. So, the food suffers because the emphasis is still on pizza and cheeseburgers.
So I do miss having choice, and I certainly miss indian food that hasn't been watered down.
The recession will squeeze everyone, and people who could previously afford a take out curry once in awhile will be nixing even that. The curry college sounds like a great idea. Standardize, train and teach the public about regional indian dishes. For example, Sri Lankan food is insanely hot, far hotter than anything i've had in an Indian place, but where to find it except in certain neighbourhoods. Maybe the 'entitled generation' is still reluctant to work, but as things get worse, learning how to make delicious food and have a job might sound better by the day.
8 January 2012 10:09PM
Also, I'd like to see wider creativity of the curry. I draw the line on Sri Lankan curry, it was so spicy I once went deaf for 5 minutes. But I am a bit partial to Nepali Momos, and Dhal Bhaat set served on a big round, compartmented metal plate. Not so sure I could mash it all together with my fingers, mind.
8 January 2012 10:10PM
Panic! Panic! What about the other cuisines?!
I will not rest until I'm safe in the knowledge that highly trained chefs are being flown in overnight to plug this critical gap in the catering industry.
Is there a journalism award that this article can be nominated for? It really is cutting edge and should shape governmental policy.
Ok, little harsh. But still, panic!
8 January 2012 10:12PM
I believe I may have the solution to this particular problem. It's radical, mind. Why doesn't the whole industry pack up and head for the new emerging market in South Asia? All the restaurants and take-aways now operating in the UK's larger cities have turned these areas into rat infested hovels. Getting rid of this lot would be a good start.
8 January 2012 10:13PM
Call me cynical, but I'm guessing it's because the Indian workers will work for less than the minimum wage.
8 January 2012 10:17PM
Entire article about curry in Britain doesn't mention Birmingham once.... complete and utter failure!
Anyone complaining about curries being bland, boring, not diverse etc needs to get down to the balti triangle in Brum and go out for a proppa' balti! Alroight?
8 January 2012 10:21PM
I donot want to spoil your love for indian dishes.
I am from Indian subcontinent and I cook my meal sometimes eat in indian restaurants as well.
However some of the names that you guys are using for dishes are very new to me.
Are you guys sure that you are not been conned by mixing two dishes and giving it a new name?
8 January 2012 10:21PM
This country like all others in the west need cheap labour so those that at the top (inclusive of politicians) need their homes cleaned by someone who is on £2 per hour. Becuase the wont pay £6 and above per hour.
That is what this country has been built on. A friend owns a large restaurant/ take away and many many time he has tried/ employed "indeginous" (whateve the F that word means- as the BNP fwhits!) people they have not lasted the week. All have quit and all have said the hours are too long and the money very poor.
If he employs more he cannot make a profit and will have to close down. He has to employ foreign workers who are prepared to put in the hours and do all the crappy jobs in the world so he can survive.
Foreigners come here because there is work to be had because the locals will not do this work. What do employers do?
Don't be fooled by these industialist patriarchs who bang on about foreign people. Cheap labour is what built this and most western countries. Labour from Asia and Afria
8 January 2012 10:38PM
I don't see why you have to be Indian to cook Indian food. You don't have to be French to cook French cuisine and no doubt if anyone said you have to be British to cook roast beef and yorkshire pudding there would be an outcry. We should be training people who are already here.
8 January 2012 10:41PM
"The bland words hide a growing crisis in the country's curry industry"
well done.
8 January 2012 11:00PM
Spot on.
This article lacks input from the borders agency who may be able to give an idea why so many people from the sub continent work in the restaurants.............
8 January 2012 11:02PM
I thought most people knew that Indian restaurants and take aways did batch cooking, thats why it's cheap.
Too early to tell if the rules on imigration need to be changed. Let the business owners sweat a bit, or put another way if you are paying someone 3 quid an hour, how efficiently are you running your business?
8 January 2012 11:03PM
Youth unemployment and the recession
But, as a young friend tells me, although he is unemployed, he does spend a lot of time "helping his uncle".
8 January 2012 11:03PM
As a British born asian who has worked in the Hospitality Industry for 13 years - 2 of which were in a major London based Indian group - I can offer a different viewpoint on this issue. The employees: The way these work permit/student visa employees are treated and expected to work is not and never been productive to the overall establishment. Their cooks and Managers especially are only motivated to gain UK residency after 5 or 10yrs service - bring their family across and then quit the industry. This is not restricted to Indian restaurants, I have encountered the same issue in Thai and Chinese eateries. I managed to intergrate Europeans into these kitchens and service teams but never gained any plaudits from the owners. Sales went up with the added passion, dynamics and motivation - communication skills improved with clients but labour costs (although in line with sales margins were fine) it was at an additional cost to the owners. I have applied for several high level jobs posted for websites such as the Caterer for Indian, Thai restaurants in the past and never received any replies. I used to wonder what I was doing wrong (I have a HND in Hospitality as well as all the relevant qualifications Licensing, Hygiene etc) but now accept that these ads are simply posted to assist with their Home Office Visa applications, as advised by their visa litigation experts. The food quality standards have dropped badly in Indian, Thai and Chinese restaurants in general and loads of eateries have raised prices recently to add salt to the wounds - most deserve to be shut down with or without the recession. The solution is for a motivated workforce and more western style operators who have the passion for hospitality. There are more british born like me who need a chance. Most operators simply cannot be bothered to innovate or improve their own communication. In a thai establishment I consult, I commonly hear local staff (Brits, EU workers) referred to as 'Farang' (Westerners) by the imported Thai staff and owner! This section of our industry is really in deep water - you as a consumer - please continue to enjoy your curry!
8 January 2012 11:08PM
Really justify front page news?
For f**k's sake.
8 January 2012 11:12PM
i bet you there are thousands of well trained chefs in indian cuisine in england that would love a job! oh yeah, i forgot inidan women aren't allowed to work in their family business..
8 January 2012 11:15PM
That's right, the reward for the worker is UK nationality. Equally, the wage paid in the UK is often repaid/subsdised overseas via the bank of uncle.
A more elaborate version of this process involves setting up a combined restaurant and school of cookery where almost all of the staff are actually here on student visas and paying to be trained/work in the establishment.
8 January 2012 11:19PM
Nonsense.
Get yourself a meal at the wonderful Hansas
8 January 2012 11:21PM
If a curry restauranteur can't make money paying decent wages in exchange for reasonable hours, and the business model requires a constant stream of immigrant labour prepared to work long hours and to receive less than minimum wage, I'd expect the Guardian to applaud these exploiters being put out of business. It smacks of just opposing Goverment policies out of dogma, regardless of whether they make sense or not. When you've identified that the problem is the government turning off the tap of sub-minimum wage immigrant labour that's surely a sign that you've completely lost the plot.
8 January 2012 11:22PM
At the risk of sounding like Tourettes Dave or 'divide and rule" Diane this is a massive immigration scam and a closed shop within the Pakistani/Bangladeshi community.
And it's fuelled by pissed up punters eating spicy, crap food and fizzy lager after a skinfull in the pub.
Minimum wages, appalling conditions, terrible hygiene, remmitances and Hawala back home to gangster moneylenders. Retaining passports , covert slavery and overcrowded housing conditions have characterised this industry for years.
It's amazing what beer goggles can miss when a truly sad bloke in a claret waistcoat serves you some crap dayglo chicken in a metal dish.
"Crisis": Keith Vaz and the article's author.... speaks volumes