Shortage of sommeliers and staff hits resurgent restaurants
From sommeliers to chefs, severe staff shortages have caused headaches for restaurants, pubs and bars in the UK as they seek to reopen for business. While restaurant and pub owners have welcomed the chance to begin reopening their doors, most are concerned about recruitment, according to research by hospitality consultants CGA and Fourth.
Many hospitality staff have been forced to find alternative work following Covid lockdowns, yet the research also noted that ‘Brexit has also caused a steep drop in people travelling from Europe to work in the UK.’
Wages have risen in some cases as venues seek extra help. Hourly weekend wages for temporary staff have increased by 9% on average since 2019, and in some instances up to 14%, according to recruitment platform Indeed Flex.
‘Since the hospitality trade reopening, we have received emails almost daily from agencies or restaurants looking for sommeliers,’ Federica Zanghirella, vice president and course director of the UK Sommelier Association, told Decanter.
‘It’s the worst it’s ever been in terms of recruitment,’ added Master Sommelier Xavier Rousset, co-founder of the TRADE hospitality app for industry professionals and Cabotte restaurant. But there is still optimism for the longer-term. Rousset hoped that some people who love the industry would be tempted to return. ‘Give it a few months and some of them will come back,’ he predicted.
Emma Underwood, general manager of The Pem, a new restaurant by chef Sally Abé, also believes the UK will again see ‘busy restaurants with happy, full teams’. But she said the industry must ‘continue to demonstrate how wonderful a career in hospitality is’. She added: ‘We need to truly consider the people who work for us and ensure they are being properly looked after and financially rewarded.’
At the UK Sommelier Association, which plans to restart its classroom-based course in October, Zanghirella said: ‘Young people don’t know how fast, rewarding and fulfilling [it] can be working in a restaurant as a sommelier. For all the talk of staff shortages, no one talks about the solution: training.’