Shining a Light on Welsh Hospitality
during Covid-19
The Welsh Independent Restaurant Collective (WIRC) was formed in early 2020 to give a united voice to the sector, which faced unprecedented financial challenges as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent, ongoing lockdown restrictions.
Over the course of 18 months, I supported a core team of six founding members, collaboratively crafting and issuing more than 25 press releases and reactive statements on behalf of the collective. These were often written within hours of publication of the latest government advice on how hospitality businesses would be permitted to operate, and what financial support would be available (or in most cases, not available).
This outreach has resulted in hundreds of media mentions across regional and national print, broadcast, online trade and consumer press over the last 18 months. As a result of the WIRC’s persistent and persuasive media presence, the founding members were invited to join future Welsh Government Covid-19 Response meetings, to represent the industry to officials and ministers, and influence future policy decisions.
Eat Out to Help Out: #EatIndieWales
In July 2020, the UK government announced it would introduce a nationwide Eat Out To Help Out (EOTHO) scheme to encourage customers back into hospitality businesses. This blunt tool would offer £10 off any meal purchased between Monday – Wednesday for all parties in a booking.
Along with fellow independent practitioner Matt Appleby, we were asked to devise, plan and execute a short PR and social media campaign, to:
Spotlight the importance and benefits of the independent hospitality sector in Wales.
Encourage the Welsh public to use the UK government’s EOTHO scheme to support their local Welsh independent restaurants, rather than the bigger chains.
Create a media hook which would encourage press to look at smaller, independent businesses as part of the media coverage of the EOTHO scheme.
Reiterate the myriad of challenges facing independent restaurants.
Highlight the ongoing work of the WIRC in campaigning for greater sector support from the government at all levels
Using our in-depth understanding of the sector, we devised on a month-long PR and social media campaign which would encourage the Welsh public to #EatIndieWales, whilst also encouraging the press to focus on the realities and challenges of the scheme for independent businesses. We knew that:
It would be especially important to explain the reasons why independent hospitality businesses are vital to our local economies, but also face the greatest financial pressures through not having the advantages of economies of scale.
Window stickers could offer an easy way for customers to identify independent restaurants around Wales, whilst also increasing the visibility of the WIRC.
Partnering with the Bristol Food Union would help us to extend the reach and messaging of the campaign, align on values, and pool resources.
A campaign press release was written and issued to all Welsh and trade media. A digital toolkit was created for WIRC member businesses, which included sample social media posts, branded assets, key messages, images and blog posts, which they could use on their own channels to amplify the campaign and its call to action. WIRC branded window stickers were also sent to all member businesses, giving the campaign a visible, offline presence.
To extend the reach of the campaign on social media, we worked with WIRC member restaurants to source celebrity endorsements and self-filmed video content from well-known names; people who could talk passionately about their best-loved indie restaurant, cafe or pub. These were top-and-tailed with WIRC logos and the campaign hashtag.
The Results
In total, the PR campaign generated a total of 24 pieces of coverage including National TV (e.g. Channel 4 News), Regional Radio (e.g. BBC Radio Wales, LBC), Trade (e.g. Propel, Casual Dining Magazine) and regional print and online (e.g. Wales Online, Western Mail). 25% of the coverage (including all broadcast coverage) looked at the challenges faced by indie restaurants taking part in the EOTHO scheme.
Social media celebrity endorsements for Welsh restaurants came in from rugby legend Jonathan ‘Jiffy’ Davies, TV presenter Sara Elgan, Hollywood superstar Taryn Egerton, and TV chef Matt Tebbutt, amongst others.
A partnership with the Bristol Food Union provided further value; they secured 40 billboard sites in Cardiff, which carried messaging to discourage restaurant ‘no shows’ (a persistent issue for the industry which hits independent restaurants the hardest). These were co-branded with WIRC and Bristol Food Union logos, and provided free of charge.
Finally, WIRC membership had increased from 300 to 400 businesses by the end of the #EatIndieWales campaign.
“The #EatIndieWales campaign was a remarkable piece of creative work at very short notice and it was hugely successful in galvanising our 400 or so members to shout about the value of independent hospitality. We know from member feedback what a difference it made and how much it resonated with the Welsh public.”
- Simon Wright, Food Writer, Broadcaster & Restaurateur, founding member of the WIRC
“As a journalist, Jane has been absolutely brilliant to work with, key to helping us highlight the plight of indie hospitality businesses in Wales.”
- Paul Davies, Senior Correspondent, ITV Wales News