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Middleton-on-the-Wolds, England, UK
Nigel Upson has a problem.
He is the manager of a poultry business in a small Yorkshire parish in northern England.
His chicken production is still running, but since Brexit and the resulting requirements, he has already had to reduce production by ten percent - and the losses, he fears, are increasing every day:
Nigel Upson, owner of a poultry business
»We are harassed on all sides.
And the Food Inspectorate is doing its best to finish us off too, which is uncomfortable.
Yes, it's just the "perfect storm" we're heading for. "
What is missing in this company - as everywhere in the country - are employees.
Fewer than 100 of the 138 employees are still there.
The largely Eastern European workers left the UK with Brexit.
Now there is a fight for every worker.
Nigel Upson, owner of a poultry business
“We have already increased our salaries by about a pound an hour so that we don't lose our employees, because long-standing colleagues have also left.
That seems to have worked.
But now I hear that one of the big meat companies in Hull has raised wages to ten pounds - an upward spiral. "
The British economy, Boris Johnson's government sent a message to entrepreneurs like Upson, must end its dependence on poorly paid foreign workers.
To this end, more should be invested in technology and the quality of jobs.
A plea that sounds like sheer mockery to Nigel Upson.
Nigel Upson, Poultry Business Owner
“To say we need a well-paid, well-educated economy, fine, but what qualifications do you need to crate chickens?
We can continue to raise salaries, but then prices will rise accordingly.
And since the low-wage earners spend 50 percent of their income on food, it unfortunately hits them the hardest. "
The government has an emergency solution in sight for the run-up to Christmas: For this high production period, foreign workers are to be allowed into the country for a limited period of time, and 5,500 work visas are planned in the poultry industry.
It remains to be seen whether they will come to Nigel Upson's business in Yorkshire.
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