When in the 1990s he arrived in Great Britain for a student summer job, he loved it so much that he made up his mind to go back and try his luck in Britain. Now, Atanas Chikov is one of the most active Bulgarians in the UK turning his desire to help other Bulgarians who want to settle and work there into his profession.

That was how the platform BGhelp, http://www.bghelp.co.uk/forums/content/ came into being and grew to become a resounding success, with tens of thousands of Bulgarians registering on it. They exchange ideas, experience, advice, anyone can join in and do anything they can to help. Meanwhile Atanas created a series of Facebook pages on various topics connected with life in Britain, as well as a YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/AtanasChikov/videos, to which he uploads videos with recommendations and valuable advice about local realities. Atanas became a licensed migration consultant. He says he can barely keep up with all of the questions and queries because after Brexit Bulgarians face a host of problems.

There are more than 20,000 Bulgarians living in the UK. Atanas says many come with the idea of working for a few years, making some money and then going back home. Some start successful businesses or find a steady job and decide to stay. People work hard and pay their taxes, and that is something the UK also benefits from. But with all the Brexit-related problems and lack of information, many have been coming up against insurmountable administrative barriers:

“There are a lot of problems,” Atanas says. “With the corona crisis some go to work, others work from home. But rent is high, and if at some point they are left out of a job, how can they afford to pay it? Or all the obstacles connected with the paperwork that will allow them to go on working after Brexit. Most Bulgarians have already obtained their new status but some face serious administrative problems. Other complications involve travelling and the expiry of the identity cards, because you can’t just fly back to Bulgaria to renew them.”

But the most serious apprehensions are connected with the uncertainty of Brexit – will there be a deal or not! Bulgarians worry how that will affect the exchange rate of the pound.

“Many have been converting their salaries into euro and sending the money back home to relatives. But if there is no deal and the pound drops below one euro, that would really burn a hole in their pocket,” Atanas says. It is not at all clear where the British economy is going, and there is a risk of entire sectors being affected, like hotels and restaurants where 10-15% of all Bulgarians living in the UK are employed.

Do Bulgarians find integration easy?

“I don’t think so. The perspective on life here is different. We are the Southern type, we are more temperamental, like the Spanish or the Greek, we like to sit down at table and eat together, to listen to music… Britain is the perfect place to do business, to make some money, and then, if you want to, to go back home,” Atanas Chikov says.

Photographs courtesy of Atanas Chikov