The research also found that there are even fewer UK candidates at ‘chef de partie’ level (the entry level to supervising a kitchen section) where only one in five applicants is a UK national.

British candidates are most strongly represented at ‘head chef’ level where one in two applicants is from the UK.

Over half of all applicants for jobs as skilled chefs in London are from the European Union (53%). Migrants from non-EU countries account for only 14% of people registered with Change for Work. This figure includes nationals from Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada and South Africa.

The nationality data was sourced from a sample of 1200 skilled chef candidates from the Change Group database. In addition, research with 250 candidates over the summer was conducted.

Chefs who took part in the survey pointed to internships, work placements and building a positive image for careers in hospitality as key to attracting more people to fill the growing number of available roles.

A culture of long hours, lack of structured training and unclear career paths were highlighted as reasons for the shortage, with 24% seeking a better work/life balance and 22% looking for career progression.

Craig Allen, Change Group director, said: “These figures are very worrying as they point to the fact that there is not enough British talent applying for chef careers and the number of skilled applicants from the EU isn’t enough to meet the demand. We need to attract more skilled migrants from other countries to bridge the gap. To do this, we need to change immigration policy.

“There is no doubt that the long term solution is to boost the number of Britons wanting a career as a chef. However, we need a short term fix as restaurants in London are struggling to find skilled chefs at all levels with demand simply outweighing supply.

“By reviewing immigration laws relating to skilled migrants, we could encourage freer movement of chef talent which in turn would support growth UK hospitality industry.ustry. y, we could encourage freer movement of chef talent which in turn would support growth in the UK in the UK hospitality industry. This could also have a direct impact on income from UK tourism which is vital to the economy as highlighted recently by David Cameron.

“Increasing the chef talent pool by opening up our borders will enable the hospitality industry to cope with current recruitment demands while addressing the bigger issue of how to attract more UK workers into chef careers.”