First there were Polish plumbers and nannies, now Britain should prepare for an influx of Polish painters and decorators.
B&Q, the largest do-it-yourself chain, said yesterday that it was considering recruiting "thousands and thousands" of painters and decorators from Poland.
The move is part of its push into offering services, rather than simply selling tools and materials, as it battles to stem falling profits at its retail business.
The company already offers to install kitchens and bathrooms. However, in the past few weeks it has started testing a decorating and painting service.
Ian Cheshire, the chief executive of B&Q, said he would eventually like to offer the service across all its 322 stores. One of the biggest stumbling blocks to rolling out the service nationally is a lack of available workers.
MBQ