Restaurant background noise targeted by new campaign
Has background noise affected your dining experience? You're not alone.
Charity Action on Hearing Loss (RNID) has launched a new nationwide campaign for quieter dining.
The charity’s Speak Easy campaign became a reality after a survey of 1,500 people found that close to eight out of ten people have left a restaurant, café or pub early because of noise.
Action on Hearing Loss is urging the catering industry to take action on background noise, which includes noise made by other diners, noise from the kitchen and background music, to improve the dining experience for all.
The online poll statistics found 81% of respondents – both people with and without hearing loss – had difficulty holding a conversation because of the high level of noise.
In some cases it means customers aren’t getting what they pay for either, as over a quarter (27%) of respondents said they received the wrong order during a meal out due to high levels of background noise.
Why has it become such a problem?
As well as background music playing, interior design trends are said to have worsened the problem, as lots of hard surfaces and high ceilings with fewer furnishings, which have become popular in recent years, lead to increased noise levels as sound isn’t absorbed.
The survey found that background noise does affect the restaurants, cafés and bars people visit as 85% of respondents with no hearing loss said they considered lower noise levels important when picking a restaurant.
And 91% of respondents said they would not go back to a place if noise levels were too high.
Paul Breckell, Chief Executive of Action on Hearing Loss, said: “Through our campaign we want to help the restaurant, café and pub industry to create a more welcoming dining experience for all customers.
“Whether you’re out for a meal with friends, or if you’re on a date, you should be able to enjoy it without having to repeat yourself, raise your voice or receive the wrong order due to high levels of background noise."
Tom Tanner of the Sustainable Restaurant Association said: “Restaurants, pubs and cafes have a huge role to play at the very heart of their community and that means considering everyone’s needs, including the UK’s 11 million people with hearing loss.
“We will encourage all of our members and the industry as a whole to engage with the Speak Easy campaign, to ensure unnecessary noise doesn’t prevent anyone from enjoying eating out.”
What's the solution?
There is also a companion guide available with the report, Speak Easy: How to improve the customer experience, which shows practical steps that restaurants, cafés and bars can do to reduce background noise. These include:
- turn down background noise – making it easier to hold conversations;
- have speaker-free zones;
- provide designated quiet areas within a venue – customers would be assured of avoiding major background noise;
- add softer furnishings such as carpets and table cloths, or rubber-capped chair legs;
- implementing acoustic treatments, such as wall and ceiling panels, which are designed to reduce noise levels, either by absorbing or diffusing sounds. Acoustic treatments can be ‘retrofitted’ within existing venues, or incorporated into new builds;
- installing art panels, which are types of wall or ceiling panels.
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