Over Here, Over There

Learn From The Best: How Brexit Transformed Luxury Hospitality

• Dan Harris and Claudia Koestler • Season 3 • Episode 11

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In our 'Learn from the Best' series, The Savoy´s Managing Director Franck Arnold talks about immigration, Brexit, and the future of hospitality!

Summary

Claudia Koestler and Dan Harris explore the significant impact of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic on recruitment in the UK, particularly in the hospitality sector, with The Savoy's Managing Director Franck Arnold. They discuss the challenges faced in hiring qualified staff from Europe post-Brexit and the changing dynamics of immigration in the UK. Highlights include the importance of cultural diversity in London and how it contributes to the city's vibrancy and success.


In this clip from the Podcast interview from "Over Here, Over There" you will discover:

  • The REAL impact of Brexit on luxury hotels
  • How international talent DRIVES hospitality excellence
  • The truth about workforce diversity

This video gives you an insight into the challenges from Brexis even by one of the most prestigious organisations in the UK and how it has had to adapt to the new business and cultural environment.
 
Perfect for:
Travel enthusiasts
Hospitality professionals
Global citizens
Career seekers

Are you ready to learn from the best? The Savoy's exclusive insider perspective and the full-length interview with Franck Arnold can be watched on the ‪@OverHereOverThere‬ Podcast here: • Insights from The Savoy London - Inte... 

One click could transform your understanding of global hospitality forever! Are you ready for the TRUTH?

Takeaways

  • The pandemic and Brexit created significant recruitment challenges
  • Many qualified staff left the UK and are not returning
  • Post-Brexit, recruitment from Europe has become more difficult
  • The hospitality sector struggles to attract British workers
  • Cultural diversity is essential for London's identity
  • Immigration patterns have shifted significantly post-Brexit
  • The quality of immigration has changed, impacting industries
  • London's energy comes from its diverse immigrant population
  • The UK is a country of immigrants, similar to the US and Canada
  • The British culture is enriched by its diverse influences


#HospitalityRevolution #Brexit #Immigration #LuxuryTravel #TheSavoy #FranckArnold #podcast #overhereoverthere #pandemic #hospitalityindustry #London #workforce #culturaldiversity #recruitment

Claudia Koestler (00:03)
 So, of course, with the pandemic, was a very unprecedented times, but you also experienced Brexit. Let me put that unspeakable term on the table here. Sorry for that. 

Franck Arnold 
That’s fine. Absolutely.

Claudia Koestler
How did that or how does that affect your line of work in terms of recruitment or getting goods into or your work in general?
 
 Franck Arnold (00:28)
 Well, it was a double whammy basically because, with the pandemic, a lot of our staff had left and gone back to a lot of them from Western Europe or Europe in general. And were not planning on coming back. And those people had quite the right to stay and to live in the UK. The opportunity to continue recruiting from Europe stopped at the end of 2020. If you had not stayed at least one night, the circumstances, let's say that was the end, we could not recruit unless people had the qualification and the sponsorship and the money to fund and finance. And these visas are very expensive and are only applicable to people with the right level of qualifications. So, you can't do that for, you know, we employ a lot of people. Hotel like this, if you take into consideration our partners at Gordon Ramsay, we employ over 600 people. and we need qualified people. So, from a professional standpoint, I think that we have lost the ability to bring a lot of people who had the qualifications to help us do an even better job here. Because it's not, it's not a profession that traditionally the British public embraces as a career, except if you go into management. But the jobs of cooking, serving, housekeeping, et cetera, are not traditionally typical job that people embrace. 
 
 Franck Arnold cont...(02:28)
 So for decades, and since the hotel opened, we've had a lot of people coming from Europe to work here. Some go back, some stay, and it makes London the most exciting city in the world.

Claudia Koestler (02:41)
 Including yourself?

Franck Arnold (02:54)

Including myself, of course. And I've got my own opinion, personal opinion, and I'm not afraid to share it. But from a professional standpoint, it made our job much more difficult. Because we could not find the same level of qualification. And it's not only the qualification, it's, you know, we want to have a little bit of the twist of having foreigners with a different accent because this is what makes the Savoy what it is. When César Ritz arrived here, he had kind of a Franco-Swiss-German accent and he was running the Savoy.
 
 And Auguste Scoffier didn't speak a word of English when he came here. Not a word. People who came here in the kitchen had to speak French because it was a language, it was the lingua franca of the kitchen. Now it's changed, obviously. But for the longest time, and probably we've had the majority of the managing directors at the Savoy, which is a, you know, it's a British institution, has been run by foreigners.
 
 So the fact that we lost this opportunity has been very difficult, not only for me, for the sector, but not only our sector and our industry. It's all industries, you know, have lost the ability to recruit. Now, so does it mean that we've met the political ambition which was to reduce immigration? No. Immigration has continuously increased. The nature of the immigration has changed. Now, I'm not here to judge whether it is better or not. In my case, it's not as, the quality is different. The immigration has continued to increase. before, I think, and you know, I think that before Brexit, 65 % of the immigration was European, now it's 15%. So, it's a different type of immigration. So, if that was the sole purpose of reducing immigration, this is a country of immigrants. And London thrives because it's got a constant flow of immigration, same as in the US. The US is a country of immigrants, such as Canada. And a lot of countries have brought talent and, you know, innovation, strengths through melting pots of cultures, you know, London still has incredible energy. London is London because of that. Because you walk the street and you have, yes, you have a great, you know, attachment to the British culture, but the British culture is extremely diverse and rich. It goes from royalty to rock and roll. And all that mingles in the streets of London.