Britain's hospitality industry has asked the Government for more than 100,000 work permits post-Brexit, underlining just how difficult it will be for Theresa May to fulfil her pledge to cut net migration.
Across the UK, EU migrants account for 15% per cent of the 4.5m-strong hospitality workforce, but in some areas of London that figure rises to more than 65% of staff - making these workers critical to the capital.
Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, says closing down flows of migrant labour would be "catastrophic" for the hospitality sector and could force small businesses to close.
She said the sector had told the Government it needed more than 100,000 visas a year once Britain exits the EU.
Ms Ibrahim told Sky News: "This is just our sector - hospitality and tourism.
"If you add to that the construction industry, the care sector and other sectors you can understand there will be a difficult task ahead for the Government."
The number of work visas being demanded emphasises the severe labour shortages affecting not just the hospitality industry, but also a number of different sectors and regions across the UK as unemployment falls to an 11-year low.
Reliance on migrant labour is particularly acute in the capital, which is why London Mayor Sadiq Khan is pressing Brexit Secretary David Davis to create a regional visa scheme for the capital or, at the very least, a big allocation of any work permits offered after Brexit.
Mr Khan told Sky News: "I understand the toxicity of the visa word, but the reality is that there are employers who need workers from overseas and one way of addressing that is having an allocation of work permits fairly met by Government.
"The reality is that if London is going to carry on having huge economic import to our country's prosperity and carry on delivering revenues to the Exchequer, we are going to have to attract talent."
Consultancy firm PwC has drawn up a possible regional visa scheme for the City of London Corporation, based on regional visa policies of Australian and Canada.
However, Government insiders say the idea of regional visas have been shelved in favour of work permits for different sectors.
Mr Khan, who is meeting Mr Davis on a monthly basis to talk Brexit, said the Government is listening but warned that he will step up political pressure should London's needs not be met.
Labour insiders admit that Mr Khan can't independently set migration rules for London, but said the capital has "plenty of leverage" to mobilise against No 10 if necessary.
Last week, Sky News revealed that the Government is collecting data from industry on the numbers of EU visas different sectors will need to avoid chronic labour shortages.
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