UK pub chain Fuller’s fills staffing gaps by hiring over-50s

UK pub chain Fuller’s has solved some of its post-Brexit staffing shortages by taking on more people who are over-50 or have not previously worked in the industry, the group’s chief executive has said.

Simon Emeny said Fuller’s had “alleviated” labour shortages by taking on more older staff and 16 to 18-year-olds, as well as partnering with organisations that help people who are homeless or have learning disabilities to find jobs.

Emeny said a “perfect disastrous storm” of European workers returning to their native countries and UK workers leaving the labour market had led to “chronic” labour shortages after the pandemic, forcing the group to cut trading hours last summer.

But he said efforts to fill vacant roles meant its 385 sites, which are largely based in London and south-east England, could capitalise on the warm weather and a rush of international tourists visiting over summer. “Last summer, we couldn’t benefit from that,” he said. “This summer, we expect to trade unrestricted because we will have enough colleagues in the business.”

Like-for-like sales in the 10 weeks to mid-June were up 13.9 per cent. Group revenues in the year to early April were up 33 per cent to £336.6mn, while pre-tax profits rose 76 per cent year on year.

The hospitality industry continues to be among the worst affected by high vacancies but the situation is improving, according to official data.

Between March and May this year, the vacancy rate in the accommodation and food services sector was 5.2 per cent, down from a peak last summer of 7.4 per cent.

Emeny said the improvements in staffing “came at the expense of squeezed margins” as Fuller’s increased wages by 7.6 per cent on average over the past year. “We’ve still got further to go in terms of before recovery because clearly we’re generating much stronger sales . . . but profit will take longer to reach maturity, because we’re still in an inflationary environment” he added, pointing to high food and drink inflation.

The Fuller’s boss said he still hoped the government would add bar and restaurant jobs to the shortage occupation list, which allows employers to bring staff in from overseas at lower salaries than the “skilled worker” visa threshold of £10.75 an hour.

“Everything around this is so political and what makes good business sense doesn’t really get applied by the government around this subject,” he said. “I don’t want to create the illusion that the problems that Brexit has created have gone away, because they haven’t.”