A COFFEE shop supervisor who was blasted for his opinions on British workers and sick pay has spoken about his controversial views.

Jullian Preston-Powers, of Intenso Espresso in Hove, hit the headlines when he blasted a girl who failed to turn up to a trial shift.

The supervisor told the 22-year-old via text “you cannot ever call in sick as that is not allowed”.

He added the coffee shop “generally cannot ever manage to hire British [people] due to poor work ethics”.

He told The Argus that, with hindsight, he might have reworded his text messages slightly – but he stood by what he said.

Mr Preston-Powers found himself in the centre of a media storm when the girl posted the messages online.

People criticised him for being too harsh.

But he insisted that British people do not work as hard in lower income jobs.

He said: “You would be hard-pressed to look at the statistical analysis of British workers compared to those of Eastern European origin and find any quantifiable comparison in their attendance and work ethic.

“You would not be able to, there’s no way.

“Eastern Europeans blow them out the water and that’s because they come from more desperate countries where there are no jobs.

“I think that it’s a generalisation, but that’s not to say generalisations are not accurate.”

He said a friend, who runs a business in Worthing, told him he would “go out of business” if it were not for Polish workers. Mr Preston-Powers, who has run the cafe in Portland Road for 14 years, said his workers are “not allowed” to be sick.

If they call in sick, they are made to pay their replacement’s wages for the shift.

He said: “All I’m doing is violating employment law very openly because I don’t think it should be that way.

“Our policy is very simple and they contractually agree to it.

“Now, whether or not that would stand up in a tribunal is another argument. In England, employment law is flawed because someone can self-certify themselves as ill for up to five days.”

Mr Preston-Powers said although he has never had to use the controversial policy, he worries employees will abuse the self certification system.

He said people could “work for a week or two then go off to Ibiza” and he would be legally required to pay them.

He said his customers have found his new-found infamy amusing and have been laughing about his front-page appearances.

Mr Preston-Powers appeared in The Argus in 2008 when he told a teenage waitress she would be sacked if she continued smoking.