One of the UK’s biggest pork producers has spent £4 million hiring butchers from the Philippines, after a staffing crisis threatened to hamper production.
“It’s absolutely necessary if we want food on the plates,” said Cranswick’s Chief Executive Officer, Adam Couch. “Obviously it’s very expensive to bring them over, but it’s far better to bring them over than to curtail production as we did this time last year.” Jayne Arnold from the Food and Drink Federation said the whole industry is suffering from a lack of staff “despite employers making significant efforts to attract workers from offering higher wages to introducing more flexible shifts.”Earlier this week, Tony Danker, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said the UK needed more foreign workers to help it escape a likely recession.