The Restaurant Association

The Challenge

The British Government announced it was "getting tough on smoking." The minister responsible, Tessa Jowell MP, stated publicly that she wanted smoking banned in public places. With widespread publicity, a consultation paper that proposed legislation to restrict smoking in restaurants was published.

While understanding the importance of effective smoking policies, The Restaurant Association - the only national organization exclusively dedicated to protecting the interests of restaurants - favored the implementation of voluntary, rather than statutory, policies and believed it was important for restaurants to retain the right to cater to all customers' interests. The Restaurant Association asked APCO to help make the case to the government, media and consumers for a voluntary code of practice.

The Solution

APCO proposed a campaign to raise awareness of the potential cost to business of such legislation; demonstrate the negative impact of similar moves in New York City; engage celebrity chefs to raise the issue in the media; build relationships with key government decision makers, and promote information about sensible smoking policies and effective ventilation systems. The Restaurant Association also became one of five key trade associations to form a working group on smoking policies.

The Result

The government agreed to endorse the voluntary Public Places Charter, which established clear principles for the good management of smoking within the hospitality sector. As part of this agreement, The Restaurant Association worked to encourage the implementation of the Charter as widely as possible. This included designing appropriate signage, distributing information packets and encouraging restaurants to participate in the Charter.

Research conducted on behalf of The Restaurant Association showed that avoiding a ban on smoking in restaurants saved UK restaurants £346 million in lost income per year and 45,000 jobs.

Services Provided

• Coalition building
• Government relations
• Issue management
• Media relations
• Positioning

View all APCO services

Back to Case Studies

Back to Europe, Middle East, Africa Case Studies