Others argue that the industry has struggled to shake a reputation for low pay and a poor work-life balance. 

“The thing with hospitality is that it always struggles naturally with the fact that you are always going to be working unsociable hours,” says Harber. 

“I could be the highest-skilled chef in the world, I could be a three-Michelin-star chef, I’m still going to be working late into the night, working weekends. The hours are exceptionally long.”

Padfield adds: “If you’re a family man and you’re doing delivery driving, you can get home by 8pm as opposed to working in hospitality. Some would make that judgement for understandable reasons and say, ‘I’d rather spend time with the kids.’”

Attempts are also being made to shed the reputation of restaurants and pubs being difficult workplaces, as popularised by the likes of Gordon Ramsay in the 2000s. 

“In most kitchens now, certainly that I’ve been in across the country, raising your voice or any form of aggressive behaviour is a serious offence,” says Veryan Palmer, director of The Headland Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall. “A lot of senior chefs are actually realising that teams get on better if you don’t do that.” 

Amid growing reports of staff shortages, government ministers have sought to roll out measures to tackle the problem.

This includes this year’s rise in the National Living Wage and trials of so-called boot camps to help train unemployed workers. 

However, these initiatives are still fresh and post-Covid challenges are still lingering, says Nicholls.