Ask for Angela: Staff had no clue, says pub worker

A pub worker has warned failures in the Ask for Angela safety scheme are putting vulnerable women at risk, after a BBC undercover investigation found more than half of participating venues failed to respond properly.

The Ask for Angela initiative, a project in place at thousands of venues nationwide, aims to provide a discreet lifeline for people who believe they are in danger.

A bar employee, who the BBC is naming only as “Jack”, worked in three different venues running the scheme from 2018 to 2024. He told the BBC about failures in implementation.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called the BBC’s findings “shocking and unacceptable” and a government spokesperson said they were “deeply concerning”.

The scheme enables people to signal for help at the bar by using the code word “Angela”.

While aimed mainly at women, it can be used by anyone feeling unsafe at a participating establishment.

Jack said that while venues would initially brief staff about Ask for Angela when putting up posters, the training would often not be passed on to new employees.

“I found that they would put the posters up and things like that, but there wasn’t really any sufficient training on different scenarios that could have happened,” he told BBC London.

“Some people weren’t even aware that we were running it, so if someone would ask about Angela, then they wouldn’t really have a clue about what’s going on.”

Jack said this lack of consistent training put vulnerable women at risk.

“It could cause an even bigger issue then, if something looks funny,” he said.

“If there’s a perpetrator making a woman feel uncomfortable when she’s spending extended time up at the bar asking staff – it could put her in a more vulnerable position.”

He said he believed many venues were “just ticking boxes” rather than taking their responsibilities seriously.

“It’s sort of futile in a way, it’s pointless,” he added.

The BBC secretly recorded 25 pubs, bars and clubs in London that actively promoted their involvement in the Ask for Angela initiative, including branches of major pub chains as well as independent venues.

In total, 13 of the 25 venues visited failed to respond appropriately to the Angela code word.

Similar failures have been reported across other parts of the UK.

Greene King said it was concerned about the BBC’s findings and pledged to review how the scheme was communicated to its teams.

JD Wetherspoon said it had successfully dealt with many examples of distressed customers using the scheme but would provide additional training if necessary.

The BBC repeatedly requested an interview with minister for women Jess Phillips to discuss the investigation’s findings, but her office declined.

A government spokesperson said the findings were “deeply concerning” but noted Ask for Angela “is not a government-led scheme”.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayer money has been spent promoting Ask for Angela by police, local councils and the mayor of London’s office.

Westminster City Council made participation a key factor when deciding to grant alcohol licenses.

Sylvia Oates, director of Ask for Angela, said it was a “real concern” that the scheme was not successful in premises advertising it.

The scheme was named after Angela Crompton, who was murdered by her husband.

The safety initiative has spread to countries around the world, including Canada and the Netherlands.