Home Office Allows Hundreds of Small Shops to Hire Overseas Workers

The Home Office is permitting hundreds of small high-street businesses to hire overseas workers through the skilled worker visa route. A searchable register maintained by the department lists more than 140,000 licensed sponsors across the country. At least 400 pizza restaurants appear on the list, along with 79 named vape shops, more than 90 newsagents and more than 100 barbers.

The Home Office has stated that sponsoring organisations must meet strict duties and offer genuine vacancies.

The National Audit Office previously reported that the Home Office lacked the means to prevent exploitation of the route, which has received more than 300,000 applications in the last five years. Research director Robert Bates of the Centre for Migration Control told GB News that the register of sponsors has grown substantially since 2019.

Bates said thousands of low-grade companies hold effective control over aspects of border policy with minimal oversight. A Home Office spokesman told GB News that net migration has fallen by 82 per cent compared with the previous government and that sponsor revocations have increased.

A report released yesterday indicated that more than one million young people in Britain are not in work, training or education. Separate research showed non-EU arrivals have taken three times as many jobs as young Britons since 2020. The government has pledged to create 300,000 new work-experience and training placements over the next three years, including Sector-based Work Academy Programmes that offer training and guaranteed job interviews for benefit claimants.

A Home Office spokesman said the department will take action, including licence revocation, where sponsors fail to meet their duties.