‘Curry King’ mayor in chef rule change

BALTI bosses have hailed Mayor Andy Street as the “Curry King of the West Midlands” for his support for struggling restaurants in the region.

Mr Street lobbied Whitehall to allow more skilled chefs to come to the UK and work for a limited period of up to three years.

Government laws stop restaurants – particularly curry houses and Chinese – from bringing new specialist cooks into the country when visas of their current chefs expire.

A restriction insisted that chefs working in a restaurant offering a takeaway service would only be granted a visa if they earned more than £35,000 a year.

But Mr Street wrote to the Migration Advisory Committee and said the roadblock was putting the future of restaurants in the West Midlands in danger of closure due to a lack of skilled staff.

The restriction has now been recommended for removal as part of the latest shortage occupation list review, published by the Government. Out of around 5,000 restaurants in the region, it is believed 600 are curry houses employing more than 5,400 people and contributing an estimated £25 million to the local economy.

Manir Haque, who owns several restaurants across the Midlands and is also secretary of the Bangladesh Catering Association, said: “To me, Andy Street is the true Curry King of the West Midlands. He has always supported us and I am beyond grateful for this latest intervention.

“If it wasn’t for his intervention I would have had no choice but to close my restaurants. How can I continue without skilled chefs?”

Mr Street said: “The restaurant industry plays a vital role in the West Midlands, and we must do everything we can to support it.”