Business Leaders' Forum
Richard Clothier
Wyke Farms md Richard Clothier warned about how possible restrictions on migrant labour might impact the food manufacturing sector.
Clothier: “One of my primary concerns at the moment is the focus on immigration, because businesses like Wyke Farms we’re reliant on migrant workers.
“If the economy is going to grow – and the rural economy is going to grow – we’re going to need people to work with us.
“At the moment we’re not seeing local people until they’re 30 because they are going to university and having gap years. So without the Polish and the Portuguese that have come, over the last couple of years the food industry in rural areas would’ve ground to a halt.
“The tuberculosis thing is an ongoing cost that the industry has to put up with. It’s costing farmers an awful lot of money as well – there doesn’t seem to be any decisive solution and I think the Labour Party is not going to give us the answers.
“With regard to the groceries code adjudicator, my experience of her has been, she has laid down clear guidelines and helped us in our negotiations when they’ve been difficult.”
Watch our exclusive video with Clothier, filmed after the forum, to find out why he believed supermarket turmoil could benefit suppliers.
