A group of Darwin publicans and government officials will fly to the UK in February to recruit a hundred or so bartenders, chefs and wait staff from British pubs, the Fyles Government has announced, at a cost to taxpayers of $200,000.

Business Minister Paul Kirby said the “consortium” of 11 Darwin venues and Hospitality NT representatives will hold “targeted seminars and events” in Liverpool, Newcastle, London, Glasgow and Dublin “where they will market the Territory lifestyle” to already-employed UK bar staff in hopes of luring them to Darwin in time for a “predicted bumper high season”.

The workers would be brought in on holidaymaker visas, Mr Kirby said.

The $200,000 of taxpayer cash for the trip is part of the $3 million Flexible Workforce Solutions Fund, which the government says was designed to tackle critical worker shortages in key industries in the NT.

Mr Kirby said the UK pub crawl was the first in a series of worker attraction announcements he will be making before Christmas.

“We need more workers to pour our beers, serve up our schnitties and make sure our bars and pubs are pumping again this Dry,” he said.

“The hospitality sector is one of the Territory’s most important, keeping locals and visitors fed and entertained and employing staff members all year round. We all saw that our cities were pumping last year but the feedback I got was that finding staff was a massive challenge.

“Darwin Sailing Club, Charlies of Darwin, The Deck Bar, Good Times Bar and Grill, The Gardens Events and Functions, Smoke & Oak, Nirvana, Eva’s Botanic Gardens Café, Snapper Rocks and Hot Tamale will join the Hospitality NT and NT Government led delegation.”

Four people own those venues.

Jason “Chow” Hanna, who owns six of the 11 venues, said he was not going, and while he has previously identified positions he was hoping to fill with the government, he was not aware of the proposed government trip.

Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce told the NT Independent that expressions of interest were still being collected to determine which pub and restaurant owners would attend the trip that they would have to pay part of the costs for.

He said the trip was necessary for the Territory’s hospitality industry.

“Migration NT used to lead delegations for many years and there are still many hard working long term Territorians in our industry that were successfully recruited from previous missions,” Mr Bruce said.

“February’s trip will visit Hospitality colleges, job expos, local venues and run NT-focused seminars as we look to promote living and working in the NT.”

The government said the industry will need more than 5000 workers by next Dry season – including more than 1000 full-time workers and 4000 casuals.

“Today’s announcement helps our industry go and directly target good UK workers who we hope will help complement, mentor and upskill our local workforce,” Mr Bruce said.

The Flexible Workforce Solutions Fund is part of the NT Government’s $12.8 million “workforce boost package”, which the government said “enables business and industry to collaborate to deliver projects and strategies that will attract and train a workforce”.

Mr Kirby said grants of up to $200,ooo are available on a 25:75 co-contribution basis for “projects and activities” aimed at growing the workforce.