Responding to Government’s proposed immigration system, Tom Ironside, Director of Business and Regulation at the British Retail Consortium, said:

“Retailers rely on complex supply chains and for these to function effectively must be able to access an adequate supply of workers. Although we welcome the reduction in the salary threshold, it is disappointing that the Government has not understood the needs of the economy and the vital contribution of workers supporting the operation of warehouses, food factories and city centre stores. When vacancies cannot be filled from the local labour market, businesses must be able to recruit from the widest talent pool available across all skill levels.

“We continue to call for a system that enables straight-forward recruitment from a range of skill levels and avoids significant increases to the cost of employment.”