PR agency to offer support to Nottingham hospitality sector

Digital PR agency Tank has teamed up with Nottingham City Pubwatch to help support the city’s hospitality sector as lockdown measures continue to ease.

The team at Tank is providing pro bono PR, social media and internal comms advice to the 30-year-old scheme, which represents approximately 350 licensed premises in the city centre and works closely with local authorities like Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire Police.

A recent survey of Nottingham City Pubwatch members, carried out by Tank, found that 20% of venues still didn’t know when they will be able to reopen and 40% believe that the hospitality sector is reopening too slowly, despite recent easings.

Martin Stone, director at Tank, says it is this level of uncertainty faced by the industry that prompted Tank to offer its support: “We have always been big supporters of Nottingham’s leisure industry, both professionally and as patrons. When we first started Tank over a decade ago, our work with the Nottingham Food & Drink Festival and The Cornerhouse led to us handling dozens of bar and restaurant launches in the city and across the UK – and in normal times we still do.

“There’s no shying away from the fact that the last year has hit the industry hard and we need to be doing everything we can to ensure Nottingham maintains the mix of big name venues and amazing independents that it’s famous for. That’s why we wanted to help.

“We’re introducing a new monthly digital news roundup for Nottingham City Pubwatch members as legislation, rules and regulations continue to evolve. Our team is also creating a new social media presence and running free digital masterclasses to help get pubs and bars back up and running and reaching wider audiences.

David Lucas, chairman of Nottingham City Pubwatch, said: “Tank is an agency that is very well known to myself and some of my other colleagues on the Pubwatch Committee. I have previously worked with Tank when they provided their services to the Leisure Business Improvement District for the city centre.

“During that time, they demonstrated a degree of professionalism and commitment to the hospitality industry in the city which we found extremely beneficial. We are confident that the members of Nottingham City Pubwatch will benefit from Tank’s knowledge and experience and their generous offer to provide their services free of charge, for which we are extremely grateful.”