Domino's calls for leadership training to be added to National Curriculum amid fears of Brexit skills gap

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Domino’s Pizza has called for the National Curriculum to develop leadership skills in young people because of fears that Brexit could leave the company short of international workers.

The pizza firm said that about 50 per cent of its managers come from outside the UK and that leadership training for school leavers is needed to ensure a sustainable stream of British managers when the country leaves the EU.

Domino’s commissioned research from market research business Kantar TNS into young people’s views on leadership and the results suggested that while young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds do not lack ambition they have less exposure to strong leadership models than those from more privileged backgrounds.

Simon Wallis, Domino’s chief operating officer, said: “We’d like to see the National Curriculum developing basic leadership skills, because our research revealed some concerning results.”

Domino’s is planning to launch 600 more stores and create 21,000 new jobs in the UK the next few years.

In March, the British Hospitality Association warned that UK restaurants will need a decade to replace EU staff as not enough British workers want jobs in the sector.

A KPMG report, also published in March, suggested that there would be an annual shortfall of over 60,000 UK hospitality employees if EU migrants were cut off from the workforce. Within a decade, this would create a cumulative shortfall of one million.

Other firms in the hospitality sector have announced concerns over a skills gap after Brexit.

Earlier this year, the director of human resources at Pret a Manger told a parliamentary committee that only one in 50 job applicants to the chain were British and that the business might struggle to bring in the staff it needs due to Brexit as the positions were not attractive to UK workers.

In a statement, Domino’s urged that team leadership skills such as communication are incorporated into the school curriculum.

As part of its effort to attract more young British people to aspire to hospitality management roles, Domino’s is launching an online leadership programme called TeamSkills. This will consist of advice for on the job training and downloadable workbooks on leadership.

Mr Wallis said: “The long-term health of our economy depends not just on job creation but on skills creation and that's what today's TeamSkills announcement is all about.

“We have ambitious growth plans and believe Domino’s is a fun place to work with clear progression opportunities for ambitious school leavers with potential.”

The firms said that over 80 per cent of its managers started at Domino's as delivery drivers and pizza makers.

Earlier this month, Domino's Pizza reported that group sales grew almost 21 per cent to £286.4m in the 12 weeks to 24 September.