Immigration system needs to work for business

The Chamber has issued a call for the immigration system to be fixed to help firms access the skills they need to grow.

According to new figures, net migration in the UK has hit a record high of 606,000 with a major increase in non-EU migration.

Work has been cited as one of the key reasons for the jump but Corin Crane, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said firms across the region are still reporting labour shortages.

He is calling on Government to improve the system to make life easier for companies across a wide range of sectors to access overseas workers while home-grown talent can be trained up.

Corin said: “The latest net migration figures are high, but this doesn’t tell the whole story.

“The British Chambers of Commerce has done some great work that shows employers are struggling to fill job vacancies at all skill levels across the economy.

Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce

Chief Executive Corin Crane.

Awuneba Ajumogobia and Akin Osuntoki, from the Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce, also spoke at the event.

Tom Mongan said: “It was fantastic to welcome representatives from the Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce and show them some of our fantastic city.

“Trade between Nigeria and the UK was worth £7.5 billion last year, and we saw a 78 per cent growth in trade between 2021 and 2022.

“We are a local Chamber with a global reach, and it is extremely important that we build relationships with businesses overseas.

“This was an excellent opportunity to network and create a platform to share ideas, skills and innovations and continue to grow trade in the future.”

David Hooper added: “We are currently encouraging businesses across Coventry and Warwickshire to look further afield than the EU when doing business overseas.

“There are already trade agreements with Nigeria in place, and businesses should be taking this into consideration when looking at their supply chains.

“The visit was an opportunity to make positive connections, and we will be continuing discussions with the Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce as we support our members to conduct international trade.”

Ayomide Olajide, of the Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce, said: “We would like to thank the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce for welcoming us to Coventry.

“During our visit we were given an insight into the city’s culture and were able to discuss building mutuallybeneficial relationships with businesses in the area.

“It is clear that the UK is looking outward, and there are huge opportunities in Nigeria for businessesto capitalise on.”

“As a network we speak to firms across our patch all the time and recruitment is probably the number one issue that is holding back business growth. Many have a strong order book, but simply can’t get the workforce they need, and migration has a part to play in solving that.

“Sectors such as farming, retail, hospitality, logistics and manufacturing are at crisis point with vacancies they are unable to fill. There are around a million job vacancies across the UK and, seemingly, not enough people who are economically active to fill those roles.

“We want a highly-skilled, highly-paid workforce and training up our residents and upskilling our existing workers is, of course, a priority and I’m sure our work on the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) will help to revolutionise the skills system.

“However, it is going to take time and our businesses need workers today.

“That is why we need an immigration system that works for business. It needs to be slick and affordable to use for employers to ensure they can be nimble when they need staff.

“The Shortages Occupation List (SOL) needs to reflect the actual vacancies that need filling on the ground so that employers can access workers quickly and it needs to be modified to include skills levels where there is evidence of a shortage and it needs to have criteria proportionate to business needs.

“It also needs to help firms access the talent of migrants who have moved to the UK but are not available to the labour market. We need policies that unlock the potential of economic migration and humanitarian migration rather than headline grabbing rhetoric.

“If there are people with the right skills to support the growth of individual businesses and the wider economy then it is absolutely the right thing to do to be tapping into them.”

Further raft of promotions at Leamingtonbased Wright Hassall

A Midlands law firm has promoted seven solicitors across a variety of its legal teams as it continues to support the development of talent from within.

Wright Hassall has promoted six new Senior Associates including experienced family solicitor Laura Stocks (Family) and Danielle Pawson (Contentious Probate), who specialises in disputes relating to wills, trusts and the Court of Protection.

The latest round of promotions has also seen Jenny Rhind and Parminder Takhar become Senior Associates in the company's expert Commercial Litigation team, which is ranked by both Chambers UK and Legal 500.

Elsewhere Laura Steel and Patrick McCallum have been promoted to Senior Associate in Commercial, while Stacey Lambert has been promoted to Associate Solicitor (Business Immigration).

The seven form the second round of promotions announced by the Warwickshire law firm in recent months, taking its total number to 14 this year already.

Phil Wilding, Managing Partner at Wright Hassall, which is headquartered at Olympus House in Leamington Spa, said: “We’ve had a really strong start to the year and that is down to the continued hard work of our staff across the board.

“Investing in the development of our people and talent retention is so important to us as a company, so I am really pleased we have been able to reward all seven for their outstanding work and contribution as they continue their journey with us.”

Wright Hassall is a full-service awardwinning law firm, which was established in 1846 and employs more than 245 people, including almost 40 partners.