ONE of Scotland’s top chefs has warned that a spate of Indian restaurant closures in recent months is a sign of things to come for the entire hospitality industry after Brexit.
The Verandah, on Dalry Road in Edinburgh, is closing after 38 years of delighting diners including Clint Eastwood and Cliff Richard.
Owner Foysol Choudhury has warned for years that immigration rules which force sponsors to pay at least £41,500 for long-term staff would kill Britain’s curry houses.
Now his own restaurant has fallen victim to the chef shortage which has also seen the closure of the Bay of Bengal on the Royal Mile, and Bombay Feast in Blackhall in the last three months.
Scotland’s national chef Gary Maclean said European cuisine will suffer a similar plight to Indian restaurants if skilled chefs from the EU are turned away after Brexit.
Mr Choudhury said: “I’ve had enough. My uncle Wali Uddin opened The Verandah in 1981 and it’s an Edinburgh institution, but I’m closing it next week and it’s going to become a steakhouse.
“When the immigration quota system ended I was told to employ local people, but local people aren’t interested in working weekends.
“Now, if we want to bring someone over from Bangladesh we have to pay them more than a doctor which was never feasible.”
Mosobbir Meah has been unemployed for the last three months after he was forced to close The Bay of Bengal after 40 years.
“I was lucky I was on High Street so I was able to find a buyer but not everyone has been so fortunate,” he said.
“The Home Office should do something about the hardship they are creating because we can’t recruit staff.
“I’m basically not doing anything now. I’ll have to make a living somehow but I’m obviously not going to open another restaurant.”
Mr Maclean, a former Masterchef winner who now teaches at Glasgow College, said some Indian restaurants are now hiring Scottish-born staff to cook Indian food.
“Brexit is not just going to impact on kitchens, it’s going to impact on every single level from management to dishwashers,” he said.
“Indian restaurants have been through it. Ten years ago it was relatively simple to get staff in from India.
“In our college, we have noticed that Indian restaurants are now employing our young graduates to go and learn Indian cuisine, because they really struggle getting staff through the door from India.”
But Asaddar Ali, who sold his Bombay Feast takeaway in Blackhall in November due to a lack of staff, said Scottish chefs are not the answer to the nation’s curry crisis.
“You can’t learn how to be an Indian chef at school, it’s impossible,” he said.
“A master chef from another nationality could probably create one or two dishes, but to operate a business you need to be immersed in it from birth and gain practical experience over many years.”
Joanna Cherry QC MP for Edinburgh South West and the SNP’s Justice and Home Affairs spokeswoman at Westminster, said: “I am very sorry to hear that Verandah which has served people in Dalry in my constituency for over 35 years is closing. Organisations like the Bangladesh Caterers Association have been calling on the UK Government to allow visas for highly skilled chefs for many years pointing to a looming ‘curry crisis’. Like so many the BCA were sold a lie by the Brexiteers. I met recently with the non-resident Bangladeshis in Scotland (NRB) who shared similar conscerns with me.
“Local businesses are being forced to suffer because of a draconian Tory government that cares more about meeting its own needless targets than setting a strategic policy which supports our economy and society.
“The SNP are calling for devolution of immigration powers to Scotland so we can tailor a future immigration system to meet the economic and demographic needs of our country. Scottish business leaders back this call, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce and the Scottish Institute of Directors have said that Scotland should look closely at a differential immigration policy.”
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