Co-op chief: We should be ‘humane’ over EU immigrants

CO-OP boss Richard Pennycook has issued a plea to Theresa May’s Government to make a ‘humane’ decision over the future of European workers in the UK.

Pennycook, whose business employs 70,000 people, said 3,000 staff at the group had been plunged into uncertainty after the Brexit vote. He said: ‘The situation of EU citizens in the UK has troubled us and they’re obviously going though uncertain times. We’re concerned about that and the sooner they can get reassurance the better.

‘This affects about 10,000 people at Co-op when you add together our colleagues and their families.

‘Irrespective of the discussions to come on immigration, which we all recognise will be complex and have to take place, wouldn’t it be great and humane if we were able to say as a nation, “If you were here on June 23 and you were entitled to be here, then you can stay and you are welcome”.’

There are an estimated 2.2million EU workers in the UK. Business leaders in construction and farming have raised concerns over a possible shortage of staff if EU workers are driven away or barred by tighter immigration controls.

Pennycook, who has taken a 60 per cent pay cut, said he regularly asks for the views of shop staff, including those who have arrived from the Continent in recent years.

Co-op revealed on Friday that sales at its stores were growing at a faster rate than those of rivals, except for Lidl and Aldi.