21Lancashire Evening Post,Tuesday, July 6, 2010www.lep.co.uk

lepbusinessweek

focusimmigration

TRAVEL into West Lanca-shire this summer and youwill not have to travel too farto find migrant workers.

For generations, the agricultur-al businesses of the county haverelied on people travelling herespecifically to work on the farmsduring the busy harvest periods.

“We have people who comeback year after year and even thesons and daughters of fathers andmothers that used to work herecoming back, it is a real tradi-tion,” explains soft fruit farmerPete Rowlatt, who lives in MuchHoole.

To him, the talk of the govern-ment starting a 12-week consulta-tion over a possible cap on non-European Union workers comingto Britain is more than just a head-line.

He says: “The majority of ourworkers are from Eastern andCentral Europe and most of themare from the EU, but we havesome who are not and plenty ofother farms in the area do as well,so any cap would affect us.”

There is already a temporarylimit on the amount of workersfrom outside Europe which willbe allowed into the country beforenext April, to prevent a surge offoreign workers coming to Britainahead of the arrival of permanentlimits.

This is also an issue for thosebusinesses which rely on highly-skilled workers, particularly fromthe Far East, coming here towork.

Babs Murphy, chief executiveof the North and Western Lan-cashire Chamber of Commerce,said it would ensure the needs ofbusinesses were heard “loud andclear” over the next three months.

She says: “It is essential thatBritish businesses that requirehighly-skilled workers are ableto meet their recruitment needs,firms should be able to employ thebest possible talent to ensure theUK remains competitive.

“The stakes for the UK econo-my are very high because if restric-tions on the entry of highly skillednon-EU migrants are too strict,there could be damage to theeconomy and to future economicgrowth.

“It is absolutely essential to getthe balance right.”

For Pete Rowlatt, the voice ofLancashire’s countryside must beheard just as loud and clear as anyother highly-skilled employee.

Without this, he warns, the dan-gers are far more severe than sti-fling growth.

He says: “This could finish somepeople. Everyone says that weshould get English people in to dothese jobs, but there are not thepeople there who want to do it.

“The fact is, non-skilled workersare just as important as the skilledones to agricultural businessesaround here.”

StrikingtherightbalanceThe Government has announceda 12-week ‘conversation’ withfirms about migration levels.DAVID COATES finds bosses inLancashire desperately seekingthe right balance.

BALANCE: Babs Murphy

Thestakesfor theUK

economyareveryhigh ifwegetthiswrong

QUOTA: A cap on migrant workers is expected next year

The importanceofbeingsocialNothing. Zero. Not a penny.That’s the total spend on mymarketing budget this year, yetI find myself the busiest I haveever been.No flyers, no PPC and no mail-ing lists purchased, it’s not thatthese are outmoded, but mybusiness has been developedthrough talking with peopleinstead of at them.It is the seismic shift in com-munication, with the arrival ofsocial media, which has allowedme to do so, and the figuresback up the superlatives.The 106m people signed upto Twitter search over 600mthings every day, which barelytouches the billion items shareddaily on Facebook. But let’s notmarvel at the numbers, ratherthe opportunities that all thisprovides.With an ear fixed firmly onthe social mediasphere, I cancatch conversations happeningbetween competitors and their

clients and listen to what peopleare saying about me.There is an incredible amountof information to be gleaned butmore important than acquiringit, is knowing what to do with it.Marketing was once reliant ontraditional media, but now wecan respond immediately – it’s a

dialogue, not a monologue.It has humanised my brand, al-lowing me to ask questions andfind answers at the same time asproviding them.This does more than offer agood conscience because just asI promote others’ services, theyare willing to reciprocate.When Mark Shaw, a leadingTwitter expert, was pleasedwith my redesign of his eBook,his 13,000 followers soon knewabout it and it wasn’t longbefore web and graphic designinquiries found their way to me.It has enhanced my businessby kicking wide open the doorof opportunity; guest lecturespots, workshops, high profileclients and great PR.Social media has developedfrom a fad to a fundamental– and it’s here to stay.

Tom Stables runs Tom StablesCreative, follow him on Twitter@tomstables

opinionTomStables