Brexit represents a danger to British poultry industry
The departure of Great Britain from the European Union can turn into a hard hit for the poultry industry in the country, claims the director of one of the important companies in the sector.
Patrick Hook, director of P D Hook Hatcheries, is worried about the impact that a shortage of labour it will have on the businesses in the next few years. The effects are felt even now as many of the European workers in the industry are heading home.
"Here at the moment we have got about 5 or 6 vacancies, but as a business, we have got about 50 to 60 vacancies across the UK that we cannot fill", said the director of PD Hook Hatcheries, quoted by Farming UK magazine.
His company is the UK's largest independent chick supplier for the broiler sector with a capacity of 10 million day-old chicks and growing six million chickens a week from its regional sites in Oxfordshire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, East Anglia, Devon, Scotland and Wales.
At this point, P D Hook Hatcheries raised the salaries above the minimum and national living wage but still can't find workers to replace the missing workforce.
"Even if we have to put wages up - which I think we will have to - the reality is I still don't think that will attract domestic UK labour. The labour crisis, and not having those skilled permanent people available to us from the European Union, is a bigger threat to us as a business and industry than avian influenza. That is a fact", declared Patrick Hook for a BBC show.
The rate of non-UK labourers in the broiler and egg sectors is at about 60%, according to a survey conducted by British Egg Industry Council.
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