Addition of sommeliers to skilled worker list would be a ‘lifeline’

Sommeliers have responded positively to the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) recommendation that the role should be added to the skilled worker visa list, saying it would be a “lifeline” to the sector if the move is upheld by government.

In its first major review since 2020, the MAC recommended that sommeliers with more than three years’ full-time experience should be eligible for skilled worker visas, which are already available for chefs, butchers and restaurant managers.

Currently, to secure a skilled worker visa, sommeliers need to ask their employer to change their job title to either ‘bar manager’ or ‘restaurant manager’ to ensure eligibility.

Dion Wai, bar and wine manager across all three Mauro Colagreco restaurants at Raffles London at the OWO, who received a skilled worker visa through this method, told The Caterer: “It’s hard enough to support [visas for] people as it is, and it’s expensive because you have to be registered with the Home Office.

“You then have to tweak a contract and the job responsibilities and titles you need to convince multiple heads of department, especially HR departments, and it’s something they’re kind of reluctant to do.

“You are really jumping through hoops of fire, so to have that as a recognised skills shortage is a lifeline. It would have made my life a lot easier over the last four years.”

Unlike his colleagues, who joined Raffles two months before the opening, Wai had two weeks to undergo training because his visa was delayed.

Although Raffles was supported by the wider Accor group to recruit front of house staff, Wai observed there is still a wider problem in the industry of attracting sommeliers who fall somewhere between entry and manager level.

The MAC said it would suggest the role was reclassified as it had seen evidence of around 500 to 600 sommelier vacancies in the UK.

Alexios Stasinopoulos, director of wine at Seren Collection in Wales, told The Caterer he was surprised by how low the predicted number of vacancies were.

He said he has seen cases where “there are way more vacancies but they are not being advertised. The restaurant might have one ad for one vacancy, but through that they want to employ three or four people.”

Stasinopoulos is one of five sommeliers across the five-strong, privately-owned Welsh hospitality group, but said in an ideal world, there would be “at least 10” people in his team.

“You cannot find staff that are trained enough [to be a sommelier] and willing to do it. However, if you get somebody with a visa, they tend to be more dedicated in what they do and they stay in the business that supports them,” he explained.

In the past, he has tried to hire one or two sommeliers through the existing visa scheme, but found the “delays of the procedure made the hiring impossible”. After two or three months of waiting, they had to stop the process.

He said it would be “brilliant” if the recommendations from the MAC go ahead as it would “open a few doors for people” but hoped for further clarity on the details of the minimum contract and the wait times with the Home Office.

Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association, added: “It’s good that the MAC is being responsive to workforce shortages and recommending adding sommeliers to the skilled work visa list.

“Any steps to make it easier to fill vacancies is a step in the right direction. But we continue to hear from hospitality bosses whose businesses are suffering from severe staff shortages elsewhere too.”

The MAC did not recommend any hospitality roles were added to the shortage occupation list, which would offer a £50 a year discount on visa fees and allow employers to pay candidates 80% of the role's usual rate, down to a minimum of £20,960. It said it had not received "substantial evidence which proves that shortage cannot be filled with domestic recruitment".

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “We would strongly refute the committee’s reasoning behind not recommending chefs to be included on the shortage occupation list, which demonstrates a lack of understanding and outdated perception of chef roles in hospitality.”

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