Webinar: Immigration in the Hospitality & Leisure sector – what operators need to know for 2026

Start date: April 22, 2026 10:00–11:30

The hospitality and leisure sector continues to face acute workforce shortages, with many operators struggling to recruit for essential front-of-house, kitchen and housekeeping roles. At the same time, sweeping changes to the UK immigration system, including sharp increases to Skilled Worker salary thresholds and elevated RQF skill level requirements have made international recruitment significantly more challenging.

With these conditions reshaping staffing models, compliance obligations and long term workforce planning, this webinar will help leaders understand:

• What has changed
• What remains possible
• Where immigration and people strategies can provide a competitive advantage in a highly constrained labour market

What we will cover:

The new immigration landscape for hospitality and leisure

• The 2025 Skilled Worker reforms (salary & skill requirements)

• Roles now ineligible for sponsorship and what alternatives exist and the new defined term of “Eligible Role”

• How tightening rules are affecting restaurants, hotels, pubs, and wider leisure operators
   

Practical pathways still available to operators

• Visa categories that remain viable for hospitality (including Graduate, Youth Mobility, and niche options)

• Sponsor licence best practice, compliance, common pitfalls and Home Office enforcement trends

• Immigration strategy during restructures, group changes or M&A activity

Real-world insights from casework and sector experience

• What we’re seeing day-to-day across the sector from employers seeking overseas talent

• Preparing robust applications and mitigating risk in a more restrictive environment

The people impact: HR, tronc, culture, compliance and workforce planning

• How immigration constraints are reshaping people strategy, retention, reward and tronc schemes
• Changes to obligations for sponsor licence holders and what they must do to ensure ongoing compliance

• Preparing for Employment Rights Act changes & the broader regulatory environment

• What HR teams should be doing now