Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 6th November 2025 Issue no. 1185

Your industry news - first

The original and best - for over 20 years!

We strongly recommend viewing Cleanzine full size in your web browser. Click our masthead above to visit our website version.

SOAPBOX: UK Immigration Crackdown: What does it mean for the service industry?

Tommy Taylor, Director at T Taylor Solutions, consultant, trainer, published author, commercial cleaning and facilities management expert of long standing, writes…

“Earlier this week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled what he described as the ‘biggest overhaul of our immigration system in a generation’. The plan aims to reduce net migration by hundreds of thousands by tightening restrictions on foreign workers, students and dependants.

The Government's plan includes several significant changes:

* Raising the minimum salary threshold for skilled worker visas from £26,200 to £38,700
* Restricting care workers from bringing dependants to the UK
* Replacing the current shortage occupation list with a new ‘British jobs for British workers first’ approach
* Requiring businesses to develop plans to train British workers
* New powers to cap the number of NHS and care visas

As someone deeply embedded in the commercial cleaning and facilities sector, I find these proposals concerning. Our industry, like many service sectors, already faces severe staffing shortages. The question that immediately springs to mind is, Where exactly will companies find staff in a situation where it's already difficult to recruit anyone?

The cleaning & facilities management industry has historically relied on migrant workers to fill roles that British workers have shown little interest in taking. These are not just low-skilled jobs as often portrayed but essential services that keep our businesses, schools, hospitals and public spaces functioning.

With the new £38,700 salary threshold, most service industry positions will be effectively cut off from international recruitment. For context, the average salary for cleaning operatives in the UK sits well below this figure, typically around £21,000 - £25,000, even for supervisory roles.

Training isn't an overnight solution.

The Government's suggestion that businesses should train British workers to fill these gaps sounds reasonable in theory. However, in practice, this requires:

1. British workers willing to take these positions
2. Time to recruit and train these workers
3. Higher wages to attract domestic workers, which will inevitably lead to increased service costs

None of these changes can happen immediately, yet the new restrictions will take effect quickly.

Is this addressing illegal immigration?

Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of this announcement is how little it seems to address the issue most voters thought would be the Government's priority: illegal immigration. When Labour won the election, many believed tackling small boat crossings and illegal entry routes would be the first immigration issue addressed.

Instead, this crackdown predominantly affects legal routes of migration the people who apply through proper channels, pay visa fees, undergo background checks, and contribute immediately to our economy and tax system.

One must ask: if we restrict legal pathways while illegal routes remain accessible, are we not simply incentivising the wrong approach?

The service industry needs a balanced approach to immigration that:

* Recognises the essential contribution of migrant workers
* Allows reasonable access to international talent where domestic workers are unavailable
* Provides adequate transition time for businesses to adapt
* Addresses illegal immigration separately from legal economic migration

Without this balance, we risk damaging vital services that keep our economy functioning. Cleaning and facilities services may seem invisible when they're working well, but their absence would be immediately and acutely felt.

The question for our industry…

As service industry professionals, we need to engage with this policy discussion and highlight the real-world implications. How can we maintain service standards with potentially fewer workers? How will increased costs be received by clients already dealing with inflation? And most importantly, how do we ensure the often-overlooked but essential work of keeping Britain's facilities clean and functioning continues uninterrupted?

I'd be interested to hear how others in the facilities and cleaning sectors view these proposed changes. How is your business planning to adapt?”

TT Solutions has been providing intelligent support to facilities management providers, cleaning contractors and cleaning services providers, since 2005. The organisation specialises in practical and workable solutions, whether that is providing ‘real world’ health & safety consultancy, training services to improve performance and skills or as an interim manager.
It boasts clients across the UK in a wide range of industries in both the public and private sectors.

https://www.ttaylorsolutionsltd.co.uk/

15th May 2025