Workers Shortages Put “Ask For Angela” At Threat 

A brand new report is asking for the “Ask for Angela” scheme to develop into obligatory for all licensed venues, however companies combating employees shortages might not have the ability to carry it out successfully.

Ask for Angela was launched in 2016 as a method to shield prospects from sexual harassment, by giving them a delicate method to ask employees for assist in the event that they felt unsafe.

Nonetheless, analysis has revealed that many bars throughout London haven’t been correctly implementing the marketing campaign. This week, a report by the London Meeting has pushed for councils to make the scheme obligatory for alcohol licensing agreements.

Quick-staffed hospitality companies are presently grappling with the federal government’s plans to extend employer Nationwide Insurance Contributions (NICs) this April. The labour points might worsen already critical gaps in coaching amongst pub, membership, and bar employees.

Pubs and bars already fall wanting adopting Ask for Angela

In accordance with a examine by Ahead UK, practically 87% of younger girls contemplate sexual harassment in London public areas to be an issue. Schemes like Ask for Angela could be essential in areas the place prospects might really feel weak or in danger.

Nonetheless, a latest investigation by the BBC discovered that employees at greater than half of the London venues they visited, together with in in style chains like JD Wetherspoon and Greene King, weren’t correctly implementing the scheme. 

One pub employee reported that employees from his office weren’t conscious the venue was operating the scheme and that new staff weren’t skilled on how you can assist weak prospects.

“I discovered that they might put up posters and issues like that, however there wasn’t actually any enough coaching on totally different eventualities that would have occurred,” he stated. “Some individuals weren’t even conscious that we have been operating it, so if somebody would ask about Angela, then they wouldn’t actually have a clue about what’s happening.”

Sadiq Khan urged so as to add Ask for Angela to licensing agreements

The London Meeting’s London Night time-Time Financial system report has urged the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to make native councils add the Ask for Angela scheme to venues’ licensing agreements.

If applied, the rule change would imply that London bars and pubs could be required to undertake Ask for Angela and correctly prepare employees as a compulsory situation for acquiring an alcohol licence.

“The committee believes that extra councils ought to undertake this method – supplied that the scheme operates successfully and employees in venues are correctly skilled,” the report stated.

Khan has but to touch upon the report himself, however a spokesperson for the Mayor stated that he’ll “contemplate the Meeting’s report and reply in the end”. 

They added that Khan will “proceed to do all he can to assist London’s nightlife, which is so important to the success of our metropolis”. Final yr, the Night time Time Industries Affiliation (NTIA) discovered that over 3,000 bars, pubs, and eating places had closed within the capital since 2019.

Workers shortages placing coaching in danger

In September 2024, information from the Workplace of Nationwide Statistics (ONS) revealed there have been 98,000 empty roles within the meals service and lodging sector – 5,000 increased than pre-pandemic ranges of 93,000. 

Tax rises introduced within the authorities’s Autumn Funds, mixed with a discount in enterprise charges reduction, have put small enterprise homeowners underneath additional monetary stress, pushing an estimated 70% of pubs, bars and eating places to plan job cuts this yr. 

In a examine reported by Harpers, 73% of companies stated staff have skilled elevated workloads resulting from employees shortages. Consequently, buyer expertise can be worsening, with 41% of corporations self-reporting a decline in high quality of service.

Organisations try their hardest to take care of distinctive customer support and security. However as the federal government continues to pile on extra prices, optimism is declining. 

With many hospitality companies struggling to take care of enough employees, schemes like Ask for Angela may not be the one casualty. Their homeowners can solely hope for a last-minute U-turn on the deliberate employer NIC rise this Spring.