Any hospitality manager will tell you that ensuring customers’ safety and comfort is their utmost priority – but the stakes are higher than many might initially think. A recent study1 found that 56% of hospitality workers encounter an incident involving a vulnerable person at least once a week. And yet just 7% of those surveyed said they’d ever had any vulnerability training.
It was stark facts like these that led to the inception of Ask For Angela – a now familiar campaign to many hospitality managers and customers alike.
Properly run, Ask For Angela can save, and has saved, lives. And it’s good for business too: a study conducted at Kings College Union Freshers Fair2 found that 90% of customers were more likely to attend a venue where staff had received vulnerability training, rising to 98% if they knew that Ask For Angela was in place.
But this can be tricky to ensure, especially when staff turnover is high or teams are stretched. The partnership announced today between OrderPay and Safer Sounds, the organisation responsible for implementing the ‘Ask For Angela’ safety campaign across hospitality venues, looks to tackle the continued challenge of matching staff awareness with the consumer messaging.
As part of the partnership, Orderpay venues will display an ‘Ask For Angela’ badge on the app, but only once they have completed the appropriate training.
The badge remains on screen as users move through from the home page to venue information and menus; and when clicked on it tells customers the three simple steps they should take if they feel unsafe.
OrderPay is encouraging as many venues as possible to sign up to the ‘Ask For Angela’ campaign by offering 50% off Welfare and Vulnerability Engagement (WAVE) training. This is only possible because OrderPay is subsidising the remainder of the costs, making this one of the lowest rates available for this training programme . After venues receive training, an ‘Ask For Angela’ badge will be added to the venue on the OrderPay app, giving their app users visibility as well as the confidence that staff at any venue featuring the badge will know exactly what to do if somebody asks for Angela.
To launch this initiative OrderPay & Safer Sounds are hosting a free, hour-long online customer safeguarding panel, open to anyone in hospitality. The panel discussion will take place on Tuesday 1st February at 10am, covering the importance of staff training, safety in hospitality and customer protection best practices. Experts include a representative from the police service, safety expert Phillipe Chiarella and London’s Night Czar Amy Lamé.
Phillipe Chiarella, programme manager at Safer Sounds commented, “We are delighted that OrderPay is partnering with us and are taking a holistic and meaningful approach; not only offering training to the industry, but also implementing the ‘Ask For Angela’ badge for consumers. It’s absolutely vital that venues are trained in recognising vulnerability and how to respond to people who ask for Angela. Initiatives like this mean we can offer help to more people than ever.”
More information: orderpay.com/ask-for-angela
Book your ticket: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/free-online-panel-event-customer-safety-ask-for-angela-launch-tickets-235283397977
