From shortbread to the NHS: Scotland fears loss of workers after Brexit

The snow is falling in Aviemore, but the window display of the Walkers shortbread bakery is springing with Easter treats, alongside the more traditional thistle rounds and petticoat tails.

With its factory to the north in Elgin, and outlets like this one dotted across the region, Walkers is one of the biggest private employers in the Highlands. Jim Walker, whose grandfather started the company more than a century ago, is under no illusions about the human underpinnings of his international export business.

“Foreign nationals are critical to our workforce in the Highlands. In the busy season, we employ around 1,700 workers, 500 of whom are mainly EU nationals, and that allows us to make up the numbers that we can’t find locally when it is seasonal work.”

According to Walker, the effect of the Brexit vote on these employees has been subtle but significant: “They don’t feel quite so welcome and I can see a gradual drift of them returning home, especially as the exchange rate makes work here less appealing.”

It is immediately apparent on a visit to Aviemore, the tourist heart of the Highlands, that EU nationals here are by no means a drifting population of seasonal workers: 91% of non-UK EU nationals employed by businesses in the region are permanent staff.

Further up Grampian Road, at the four-star Ravenscraig guest house, owner Scott Burns-Smith explains that he “only employs locally”, before adding that a key member of staff is from the Czech Republic. “Her daughter goes to school with my children. The primary school in Aviemore is extremely diverse and it’s great for the kids,” he says.

“I can’t say I was happy about the [Brexit] decision, but I’m feeling positive, and the last 10 years have seen only growth in the tourism sector.”

Before embarking on this independent venture, Burns-Smith worked in senior management for the Macdonald hotel group, whose mammoth resort dominates Aviemore town centre.

Source: theguardian