WITH the summer season looming for tourism, hospitality, and leisure businesses in Cumbria, more and more establishments are finding it difficult to recruit and retain staff.

One publican said they 'haven't known a situation like this in 30 years'.

Every year, Cumbria gets ready to welcome thousands of tourists, from inside and outside of the county, with the revenue they bring vital for communities across the area.

However, for a variety of reasons, finding staff is increasingly challenging - and with no sign of things getting better in the near future.

One publican, Dawn MacNicholas, owner of The Sunny Hill pub in Whitehaven, wrote a ‘rant’ for the pub's customers on social media last week, which read: “I have sat waiting today for two people to interview (for a) chef job.

“Both applicants never turned up, no phone call, no text, no message, no email.

“These people had applied through Indeed, which I pay a fair bit of cash to advertise on, just a total waste of my time and money, no wonder places are closing down."

Dawn suggested some applicants may be sending in token applications to fulfil the obligations of their Jobseeker's Allowance.

“There's just no one wanting to work," she said. "I had a pot-wash job offering 20-25 hours, £9.50 an hour, flexible hours, and 17 people applied.

“I messaged 15 back, and no one came back.

“I closed all the jobs on Indeed because it's so time-consuming and expensive.”

Thankfully, Dawn’s hired a chef but said that job was vacant since 2021, a ‘terrifying’ prospect.

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She added: “I've never known anything like this since Covid.

“I've been running pubs for 30 years, and never known anything like this.”

She concluded: “In another sense, I feel lucky that I have such an amazing group of staff who have stuck with me during this time, and I can retain them.”

Lynn Brigg, owner of The Sun Inn in Bassenthwaite, said public transport is a major factor for their declining trade. “We get a lot of seasonal trade, but it’s a lot more difficult," she said.

“We're quite lucky because we have some uni students who work with us over the summer but staff shortages, in general, are really hard.

“One of the biggest issues we have for businesses is transport.

“There's no transport out of Bassenthwaite after 9pm.

“Before, people stayed for longer and got a taxi back, but prices have gone up and they’re no longer doing that.

“We're still getting the same number of tourists but the issue is before they would taxi to the pub, that doesn't happen anymore.

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"It's the same issue for hiring staff, if somebody doesn't drive there's no public transport after 9pm. It’s getting harder as Bassenthwaite has a lower population, we need to hire outside the area.”

Rising costs for parking in the Lake District has been cited as being potentially harmful to hospitality businesses, which rely on workers from outside the immediate area to drive in.

Another factor, particularly in the Lake District, is holiday lets and second homes.

Liberal Democrat Tim Farron recently drew attention to the problems caused by large numbers of holiday lets and Airbnbs in his Lake District constituency.

The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP told the Commons: "In the Lakes and the dales of Cumbria we have 63 per cent of our employers operating below capacity because there aren’t enough workers in the area."

Communities Secretary Michael Gove said that the Government is seeking to bring forward planning changes to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill which are intended to ensure that there are restrictions over the way that homes can be turned into Airbnbs.