Southwold businesses face 'no applicants' for vacancies

Hospitality owners in a coastal town have warned of staff shortages amid a "silence" of people applying for roles.

In the UK there were 102,000 vacancies in the sector from April to June 2021 - a rise of 12.1% compared to the same period in 2019.

In Southwold, Suffolk, Andy Rudd, owner of Sutherland House restaurant, said they did not have enough staff to open for lunch.

"This is the worst year we've seen for shortages, by a long shot," he said.

"We've got probably three different adverts out at the moment - we've had no applicants for any of those positions at the moment."

In July, industry bodies said one in five workers left the sector during the coronavirus pandemic, with Covid and Brexit often cited as exacerbating the problem.

Another Southwold business owner, Tracy Cole, who runs The Black Cat Olive Delicatessen, said: "Normally we put a sign up, we get inundated with people applying.

"This year it's just been like silence, just nobody's really applying for any jobs."

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