CorpComms Magazine

Jon Chandler,

Partner, ReputationInc

Health scares are the ultimate nightmare scenario for a restaurateur. When it's a food demigod like Heston Blumenthal at his crown jewel property, it has the potential to permanently damage a personal and professional reputation that has been a decade in the making.

The biggest threat is a residual loss of trust among loyal customers. Once lost, it could take years to build back. And it's the norm, not the exception, that you simply won't know the real cause of the problem when the news interest is at its peak. So what do you do?

First of all, isolate it. Prevent further risk, and communicate as openly as you can about the steps you're taking to discover the cause and put it right. Get the experts in right away. Express your genuine concern for the people impacted, lead from the front, and communicate, communicate, communicate. Having done that, get to the bottom of the problem and demonstrate you have resolved it and learned the lessons.

I am of the opinion that Blumenthal played a strong hand in coming admirably clean about his problems, closing the restaurant of his own volition, fronting up to control media speculation and calling in the health authorities and white coats.

It was morally and technically right to close. Not only did he act to protect employee welfare he made the ultimate sacrifice in order to demonstrate to consumers that their health was his priority. Rather than diluting his integrity he enhanced it. He may have lost more than £100,000 in takings but he kept his reputation equity largely intact. And most importantly, showed Blumenthal is worthy of the trust he has earned.

It will be hard to escape this episode but I would counsel him to accept it on the chin, re-double his passion for food, use the experience to campaign harder for higher cooking techniques and continue being himself.

The true test of his crisis handling is the fact the business has re-opened at pre-crisis levels. He has lost none of his TV and media commitments and the Blumenthal brand remains at the top table of the British food industry.

Tim Luckett,

Managing director, Hill & Knowlton

Following his laudable profile-raising exercise in redesigning Little Chef menus, the health scare at The Fat Duck was unfortunate timing for Heston Blumenthal.

A key plank of crisis management response is to illustrate what corrective action has been taken and as soon as possible. While hindsight is a wonderful thing, it could be argued that the speed of response was slow.

With diners apparently starting to complain of illness at the beginning of February, the Food Alert wasn't issued until February 12 and the decision to close the restaurant was eventually taken on February 24. This somewhat belated action led to criticism and meant customers during that period were exposed to unnecessary risk.

Confusion quickly arose around the cause of the outbreak. While Blumenthal's own testing team quickly ruled out food poisoning, a lack of clear communication about what was happening invariably led to a range of conspiracies including the Daily Mail's sabotage theory. Were we to trust his testing or the Health Protection Agency or both? In fact, at the height of the issue, some journalists were having difficulty getting any comment from The Fat Duck whatsoever.

But in terms of minimising reputational damage, arguably the main issue was the (lack of) response from the great man himself. Did those affected by the mystery illness receive refunds or even reassuring personal calls?

Particularly damaging was the criticism on how it had been handled from a celebrity diner. Sports presenter Jim Rosenthal said he'd received little support and had been asked to fill out a form. Perhaps with a hint of sarcasm, Rosenthal jested that 'a bowl of flowers for my wife to be sick in would have been nice'.

Of course, in situations like this it helps enormously to be firmly ensconced with some of the country's leading food critics - a card Blumenthal plays well and which despite the seriousness of the issue, resulted in some pretty supportive coverage. While investigations continue, The Fat Duck has now been re-opened for some time and it appears that such is the popularity of snail porridge, bookings have held up. And he's back on the box with a Roman Feast.

But it was probably a lack of an apology that defined this crisis. So often, sorry is the hardest word.

Mark Hamilton,

Consultant, Regester Larkin

When managing any crisis it is important to remember the operational response is just as important as the communications response. So far, Heston Blumenthal has got the communications part right and his messages have struck a chord. He said that closing the restaurant was 'morally' right and in a video interview with the Guardian, emphasised the value he places on testing his food throughout the supply chain.

In operational terms, the decision to remain shut when he could have easily re-opened was a big plus. However, uncertainty over the cause meant the crisis dragged on. In most crisis situations, identifying the problem early and taking action to rectify it, is essential to allay fears and get back to 'business as usual'. Blumenthal does have a potential problem though if it transpires he allowed his staff to work when they were still ill. Critics will argue he takes the cooking process more seriously than the welfare of his staff.

Blumenthal has to be whiter than white, especially as the successful brand he has carefully cultivated is wrapped up in an image of science and cleanliness. His extraordinary dishes, the elaborate preparation and the man himself will always attract scrutiny and polarise public opinion. Premium brands being brought down to earth will always make good copy and opponents will jump on any failings. Loyal customers, however, will forgive the brand they trust, provided the situation is managed well and words are backed up by action.

It is important to remember finally, that crises can provide opportunities. Companies that respond well to crises can increase their visibility and reinforce the brand values that we liked them for in the first place. The 'culinary alchemist' has a sufficiently strong brand to survive this episode and, by all accounts, bookings are already back to normal. 

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