At length they all to merry London came
Literary aristocrat Samuel Johnson famously said: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." He said this more than 200 years ago, but it might have been last week. London heaves and sighs with life 24/7 (for those of you unaccustomed to the modern lingo of The Street, that means all day, every day). It is a centre of innovation, a place of opportunity; it's where new ideas can lift off and fly, where the latest fashions are seen, trends developed and styles tested. Yeah, go London, go.
In the provinces there has always been a certain resentment of the capital city, summed up by the common complaint that London and the South-east "always get their weather first on the TV". But this sentiment soon evaporates when it comes to looking for employment. Job-seekers feel that if they can make it in London, they can make it anywhere and so they keep on taking the opportunities as they appear.
At least, this is true at entrepreneur and operator level. It is no longer quite the case for workers lower down the ranks.
Historically, there has never been much of a problem attracting staff to London's fashionable restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions. But it's now getting tougher for operators to fill vacancies. One of the reasons is that London has become an expensive place to live. The cost of living is about 30% higher than anywhere else in the UK, and the cost of accommodation is higher still. This is putting prospective employees off making the move to the capital.
Hospitality accounts directly for about 4% of London's economy. Indirectly, it accounts for more, as the restaurants and hotels are part of the attraction for many visitors and part of the mix that persuades them to stick around when they may otherwise skip off to other destinations in Europe. Maintaining the standard of hotels is, therefore, important for the country's economy as a whole, but maintaining the standard of hotels depends on retaining - or accommodating - good staff.
In service occupations such as teaching and nursing, the skills shortage in London has become so acute that the Government has had to offer subsidised accommodation in order to attract candidates into vacancies. Hospitality workers may not be in the same essential category as teachers and nurses, but the operations where they work make an important contribution to the business of Britain.
The Government may recognise this fact, but the cost of accommodating hospitality staff remains the responsibility of the individuals concerned, or their employers. This means that, as the London accommodation crisis deepens, wages will have to soar or hotels will have to provide more live-in rooms. Either way, hotel prices will go up to pay for the extra costs incurred and you can bet your bottom dollar that, when that happens, the Government will be the first to cry "rip-off London".
Perhaps it is time for the Government - or, at least, London's local authorities or the new London Assembly - to lend a helping hand in providing hospitality staff with rooms. For want of accommodation, the staff were lost. For want of the staff, the hotel was closed. For want of the hotel, the visitors went to Paris.
Forbes Mutch
EditorCaterer & Hotelkeeper
