UK labour crisis could last up to two years, CBI warns

Lobby group urges action on visas for foreign workers such as drivers, welders, butchers and bricklayers

• Wagamama struggling to find chefs at a fifth of its UK sites

The labour crisis could last for up to two years, Britain's leading business lobby group has warned, as it called for ministers to take action on visas for foreign workers and stop waiting for shortages to solve themselves".

Amid the most severe labour crunch since the 1970s, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) launched a broadside against the government, saying the UK's economic recovery from the winter lockdown was being undermined by a lack of skills in key positions, with mounting risks that the problem would continue for some time.