Sheffield-based company Fretwell-Downing Hospitality (FDH) is a leading provider of software solutions that help caterers and restaurants run their businesses more efficiently.

The Brief

With more competition creeping into the marketplace, FDH was looking for PR support that would:

• Strengthen the company's presence among its target audiences
• Position FDH as an expert in its field
• Demonstrate FDH's partnership approach with clients
• Showcase the software's capabilities including the market-leading traffic light nutritional analysis solution.

PR Plan

An essential element of the PR plan was to secure greater editorial coverage within the trade press by looking beyond the communication of contract wins.

The activity included:

• Writing case studies that would also be of value to journalists to support features on technology, menu labelling, nutrition and food waste.
• Harnessing the company's expertise and experience by securing opinion and advice-led features in the main media and participating in online forums such as Caterer & Hotelkeeper's Table Talk.
• Creating news hooks by carrying out market research
• Developing FDH's social media presence
• Revamping FDH's website copy to help boost its search engine ranking and communicate the company's experience and software capability.

Results

The start of the PR activity coincided with the announcement that the Government would be introducing nutrient standards on school meals.

The agency capitalised on the media opportunities that this provided by utilising case study material and carrying out market research among its local authority client-base that generated valuable additional press coverage.

When the nutrition spotlight turned towards the restaurant sector, the agency ensured that FDH and Saffron were at the heart of the issue particularly by commissioning research into the restaurant sector's intentions towards menu labelling; working with journalists to provide valuable insight as to how the industry could meet this challenge; and voicing opinions on the subject.

A similar tack was taken by the agency more recently when rampant food inflation and the 'profit squeeze' were uppermost in the minds of caterers.

Through the PR activity:

• FDH has secured a regular presence in front of its various audiences both within the traditional print and online trade media – including Caterer & Hotelkeeper, Cost Sector Catering, Restaurant, Eat Out, caterersearch.com and Retail Technology.
• The company's website www.fdhospitality.com now has a higher ranking in search engine listings for UK keyword searches such as 'catering profitability software' and 'restaurant menu labelling software'.
• FDH now has a greater social media presence, particularly through Twitter and Linkedin.

"FDH has found that working with A2B PR has been an extremely effective way of promoting both our company and products within an ever-demanding market.

"Amanda has understood our market, our requirements, assisted us in formulating our marketing plans and worked tirelessly in supporting us to deliver coherent messages to our target audience.

"I have found her to be versatile, creative and supportive in helping FDH to create and retain a high level of visibility in a challenging market."

Nick Prime, managing director, Fretwell-Downing Hospitality