Strength

The Restaurateurs Association of Great Britain wants to recruit a further 3,000 members by 1999. Six months into his job as its chairman, Michael da Costa has firm views on how and why it should be done. Rosalind Mullen

Michael da Costa brushes off the suggestion that the vigorous campaign for members at the Restaurateurs Association of Great Britain (RAGB) coincides with him taking the reins as its chairman six months ago.

"My role is very much following the lead of what we all agree," he says.

But da Costa makes no bones about the fact that the association needs to grow its membership if it is to have enough credibility to represent today's thriving restaurant industry.

He has set a target to boost the number of members from just over 2,000 to 5,000 by the year 2000. By achieving this, he says, the non-profit-making organisation will be able to offer a better service to members. But more importantly, it will have a stronger voice at Westminster, ensuring the industry is heard loud and clear on pressing issues such as training, smoking in restaurants, licensing, the national minimum wage and service charges. Looking ahead, he predicts food safety and skills shortages will prove the biggest headaches, and he is particularly keen that the industry is in a position to lobby more vociferously on such issues.

"We want to deliver our mission of being the voice of restaurateurs. Our power comes through membership," says da Costa. "The Government will listen to 5,000 members."

To meet the membership target and bring both independent and group restaurants on board in a balanced mix, da Costa has launched a two-pronged attack.

To attract groups, he is spelling out the benefits of joining forces to lobby Government. A recent presentation to 20 major players, including Whitbread, Bass and Pizza Express, has already borne fruit, with Whitbread signing up 930 restaurants. Da Costa is confident other signings will follow, and expects group interest to push membership to more than 3,000 by the end of the year.

Recruiting a heavyweight such as Whitbread not only gives the RAGB more muscle, it also illustrates how much the industry has changed. The brewer has moved on to also become a restaurateur and hotelier. So, where in the past there has been conflict between brewers and restaurants on issues such as licensing hours, there is now a pooling of resources.

The might of the chains does not dampen da Costa's desire to woo independent restaurateurs, however. "Independents aren't dying out. Our industry is one of the most enterprising there is," he stresses.

In the second part of his two-pronged attack, da Costa is trying to meet the often more localised needs of independent restaurateurs. To do this, three regional managers have been appointed, in north London, south London and Manchester. By the end of the year, da Costa hopes to have appointed managers in other areas including Scotland, the West Country, Wales and the Midlands.

"Local membership needs a voice," says da Costa. "I believe in decentralisation. Our members must be able to pick up the phone to a regional manager."

All the managers will be semi-retired yet well-known to local restaurateurs. Their remit is to double the number of recruits in their areas. This, in turn, will put them in a stronger position to negotiate better deals with regional suppliers and improve RAGB services such as the hygiene and legal helplines.

Inspired by the National Restaurant Association in the USA, there's a plan to broaden membership this year to include individuals, such as chefs or general managers, as affiliate members.

While da Costa wants more members and has mooted a link with the RAGB's counterpart in Northern Ireland, the Restaurateurs Association of Northern Ireland, he sees no benefit in the association merging with other representative bodies.

"I am not an empire builder. I don't believe that one organisation can represent every type of operation. We cannot represent pubs and fast-food outlets for example," he says.

What he does want to see is the RAGB having more dialogue and sharing common problems with other associations. "We will forge close relationships with Eire and possibly our counterparts in Europe," he says. "We need to be ready with answers to influence legislation here."

The skills shortage

Da Costa hopes the RAGB's army of 5,000 members will lend weight especially to lobbying Government on what he sees as the biggest problem facing restaurateurs - the skills shortage. According to Hospitality Training Foundation (HTF) research, in 1995, 45% of advertised vacancies for chefs were unfilled, as were 30% of restaurant managers' jobs, and the same again for waiting staff.

But the RAGB's voluntary committee members have realised lobbying is not everything; they must also contribute. "The Government cannot succeed in education or employment schemes unless it has the support of the people on the ground," says da Costa.

Putting this idea into action, the RAGB and HTF are launching a restaurant apprenticeship initiative aimed at independent restaurants later this year. In addition, the RAGB is supporting the recently launched hospitality careers service, Springboard UK, chaired by vice-president Stephen Moss.

In the crusade to attract youngsters, the RAGB's Young Chef/Young Waiter award is being relaunched in September under the guidance of vice-chairman Neville Abraham. The aim is to televise the event and the focus will be on getting more members involved nationwide in time for a grand event around the millennium.

"It's one of the few competitions that is after new talent," says da Costa. "We want to grow the event to make it even more significant. It must be seen as a fierce competition and a good accolade."

The issue of skills and recruitment fits in with the RAGB's stance on the national minimum wage. "We support it because it will put everyone on an equal footing - catering will no longer be seen as the worst-paid job," says da Costa.

He predicts the wage level, which is due to be set this month, will be at the lower end of the scale, about £3.40-£3.50, reflecting the Government's fear of raising unemployment figures. The RAGB urges the Government to take regional economic differences into account.

Da Costa cites food safety as the other major headache facing restaurateurs in the long term. "BSE and salmonella didn't start in the restaurants, they started with the food producers," he says.

For this reason, although he fully supports the Food Service Agency, he believes the onus for funding it should be on food producers and the public purse - not restaurants.

In line with his beliefs, da Costa pays more to serve free-range eggs in his Richoux restaurants. He hopes that as the public become more aware of food issues they will drive demand up and costs down.

"All I am trying to do is bring to the RAGB the sort of criteria we have in our businesses," says da Costa.