Sussex businesses are facing a recruitment crisis amid a surge in demand for foreign workers, a law firm has claimed.

Brighton-based law firm Loch Associates Group said that businesses in the county have been forced to look overseas due to a shortage of suitable candidates in the region to fill vacancies.

However, the firm warned that businesses are facing difficulties securing new staff due to post-Brexit restrictions and are facing strong competition from companies based in London, that can offer higher salaries and benefits.

There were 267,670 grants given for work visa applications in 2022 nationally - 95 per cent higher than in 2019, prior to the pandemic.

Of this, sponsored full-time worker visas saw an increase of 161 per cent within the same period, making up 62 per cent of all visa applicants last year.

Joe Milner, partner and solicitor advocate of Loch Associates Group, said: “Whilst tensions rise in the UK government around migrants and migrant workers, there is limited government direction on how businesses can tackle the shortage in available staff here in the UK.

“Regardless of this, we anticipate continuing to see an increase in all sectors turning to migrant recruitment.”

“A lot of employers are not aware of the preparation time required before they can hire potential talent abroad. This has meant that overseas workers are being snapped up by businesses who already have their sponsorship licence - whilst those only just discovering the need for it are missing out.”

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Businesses applying for workplace immigration can face a wait of up to 12 weeks for a sponsorship licence to be approved, due to current backlogs for immigration applications.

Mr Milner said: “The application process needs to be started well in advance if employers want to ensure they can guarantee long-term success with their recruitment.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said legal migration is “too high” and repeated commitments to achieve a pledge to bring it down after recent figures revealed record-high levels.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has also publicly pushed for lower immigration and said more Britons should be trained to be lorry drivers and seasonal workers to plug demand in key industries.