Government urged to fast-track chefs into the UK

Skilled kitchen staff should be given the same special treatment as top football stars and fast-tracked into the UK, according to hospitality trade bosses.

Training body People 1st has joined forces with the British Hospitality Association (BHA) to urge the Government to act to prevent a skills shortfall when the Olympics come to Britain in five years' time.

Experienced chefs from countries including India, China and Japan are queuing up to come to work in the UK. However, while foreign football stars have benefited from fast-tracked applications to work here, the Home Office refuses to speed up recruitment of chefs.

A report soon to be released by People 1st will show a growing shortage of skilled chefs in the UK - with the gap threatening to affect preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Brian Wisdom, chief executive of People 1st, said: "The government has known for some time that employers here are struggling to find highly skilled chefs.

"There is a certain irony in the fact that, say, a sushi chef with 12 years training - who we really need in this country - gets denied entry yet footballers from the same part of the world with less years training behind them take priority."

BHA chief executive Bob Cotton added: "There is a strong market for chefs who are based in the EU and move from place to place. With our food tastes evolving, there is an urgent need for great chefs and this will become even more of an issue with the influx of millions of tourists heading to London in advance of the Olympic Games."

The two organisations have written to Prime Minister Gordon Brown urging him to act to allow the hospitality sector to urgently fill the skills gap.