Stella Artois to tip UK hospitality staff £500,000 in new celebrity-backed reopening campaign

Celebrity publicans Jodie Kidd and James Blunt have backed a national campaign launched today by Stella Artois that will see the brewer give out £500,000 in tips to hospitality staff in UK pubs - with staff offered £1 for each pint of Stella they pull. 

Pubs can apply to sign up to the month-long Stella Tips campaign, which will launch on April 12 when pubs are set to resume outdoor service.  

A TV advertising campaign will accompany the initiative, with Stella Artois executives saying they expect up to 12,000 hospitality staff to benefit.

London venues already signed up include Highgate’s The Red Lion & Sun, Soho’s Wingmans and Catford’s Black Cat pub. 

Heath Ball, who owns The Red Lion & Sun, said his staff are “extremely pleased” at the news.

He said: “Tips are a hugely important part of the job and something my team have had to go without for most of the Covid-19 duration.

“The last year has been an incredibly difficult one for everyone working in the industry, and one many weren’t sure they’d make it through. The sector wants and needs a strong recovery, so it’s fantastic to see the effort and support offered through this Stella Artois campaign.”

Kidd owns West Sussex’s The Half Moon Inn, and Blunt is behind pub The Fox & Pheasant in Chelsea.

Stella Artois European Marketing Director, Alice Humphrey, told the Standard both signed up because they “have a first-hand account of the extent the hospitality staff have suffered this past year and an understanding of how important the great reopening moment will be for the sector”. 

Humphrey pointed out daily tips “are crucial to the workforce” and said the brewer wanted “to celebrate the return of the industry with a moment that spotlights and rewards the hard-working, resilient bar staff who are at the heart of the industry”.  

She said: “From the incredibly positive reaction to Stella Tips from our on-trade partners, we know that this boost of support is very welcome right now.