Daily Mail
December 10, 2013
The work ethic of British people has been heavily criticised by two leading businessmen.
Domino’s boss Lance Batchelor complained that he struggled to fill jobs in his pizza chain,
It came after ex-Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose defended immigrants who come to Britain and are prepared to work longer hours for low wages.
The comments come amid fears that the UK will see an influx of immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania when working restrictions are lifted next month.
Last week Romania’s Labour minister said Britain should be grateful so many Romanians filled jobs Britons were unwilling to do.
Mariana Campeanu said Romanian migrants contributed ‘greatly’ to Britain’s gross domestic product and criticised feelings of ‘racism and xenophobia’ towards her countrymen.
Mr Batchelor said his pizza delivery chain was finding it increasingly difficult to recruit staff.
‘We’re struggling to get enough employees. Since the immigration laws were tightened up two or three years ago, we are finding it harder and harder to hire staff, especially in London and the South East,’ he told the Evening Standard.
‘People who would have worked here a few years ago now don’t want these jobs. We could fill 1,000 jobs across the UK tomorrow if we could get candidates to apply for them.
‘Every branch in London is currently operating at less than full capacity because of the problem securing labour.
‘In London it’s particularly difficult to get drivers and people to work in production. If we had more staff, we would spend far more on marketing and other boosts to the economy.’
His remarks came after Sir Stuart Rose said Romanians and Bulgarians and other immigrants should not be blamed for coming to the UK if Britons were not prepared to do menial jobs.
He said: ‘I’m a free market economist – we operate in a free market. If these people want to come here, and work the hours they are prepared to work for the wages they are prepared to work for, then so be it.