THE late, great Keith Waterhouse wrote a superb little book many years ago entitled The Theory and Practice of Lunch . It was a delicious hymn of praise to daytime dining, encompassing good companions ("Shall we have another bottle?") and bad companions ("Let's skip pudding and go straight to coffee"), along with tales of the most memorable places Waterhouse had eaten.

Most of his favourite restaurants turned out to be in Europe; and in one section of the book he pondered on why this is so. His conclusion was that in Europe, unlike here in Britain, the hospitality sector is considered to be a serious career choice for ambitious people - and is stuffed with people who take real pride in their work.

Waterhouse's words came flooding back this week when I read a plea from bosses in the UK for government to develop an industrial strategy for the hospitality sector post-Brexit.

Our fourth largest sector is widely ignored by policymakers, say industry chiefs, largely because work in hotels and restaurants is, in Britain, not seen as "real jobs".

John Bennett, a boss at the BaxterStorey catering and hospitality business, bemoaned the status of his sector in the Daily Telegraph, saying: "It doesn't appear to be part of any industrial strategy. In the past 20 years there has been a huge explosion in the amount of restaurants - but they don't see it as an important career."

Keith Woodhouse's earlier observations were echoed by John Campbell, founder of a restaurant chain, who said people in the UK do not consider working in hotels or restaurants to be a "proper career"; and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy admitted that no post-Brexit hospitality strategy yet exists.

Living as we do in a county such as Cumbria - with its hugely important and vibrant hospitality sector - such attitudes should be cause for concern. It is disappointing, not to say astonishing, that the country's fourth largest sector is going largely ignored by government policymakers, and worrying that it is viewed as a "non-job" by so many people.

Why is this? People in construction roles don't consider themselves working in non-jobs, so why should people in hospitality?

Hoteliers and restaurateurs complain (with good reason) that homegrown staff are hard to come by, largely because so many turn their noses up at the thought of serving the public. Yet there should be nothing menial about providing professional service.

While televison programmes such as MasterChef and the Great British Bake Off inspire young people to become chefs - a career with potential celebrity status attached - the actually very important front-of-house stuff is considered below far too many young people who are contemplating their careers.

That should not be the case. Hospitality is an important part of the economy and as such it should be able to attract ambitious young people. I eat out a lot in Cumbria for food reviewing purposes and while the standard and quality of the food is always, of course, crucial to the proceedings, often it's the standard of service which makes or breaks the experience.

While our European counterparts see nothing remotely demeaning about working as waiters and waitresses, our own youngsters seem to, so highfalutin are some of their aspirations.

Post-Brexit our fourth largest sector expects to rely more heavily on home-grown workers, because of which it seems to me that schools and career advisers must play their part. Encouraging young people into hospitality shouldn't be seen as some sort of cop-out or last resort - but as a stepping stone to perhaps greater things. Quality control, time and motion, logistics, interpersonal skills and mental agility are all in play in this type of work - and all are important for anyone wishing to be successful in their careers.

In Europe, hotel and restaurant work is rightly seen as a career in itself. That this isn't the case in the UK is very much to the detriment of our national psyche (who on earth do we think we are?) and to the career prospects of many of our young people.

Our government needs to show it takes this important and lucrative sector seriously, Brexit or no Brexit.