A watchdog that can handle its drink

The Portman Group's work making drinks companies accountable shows that self-regulation can be to everybody's benefit, writes Stefan Stern

Does business just have to sit back and wait for government to hit it with more legislation? Or is it possible to get organised, and seek to enlighten administrators on what might in practice actually benefit consumers, business and the wider community?

The Portman Group is an encouraging example of what business can do to fend off the worst excesses of legislative zeal. For all those industries, such as food, that wonder nervously what might emerge next from Whitehall - traffic-light health warnings on packaging, anyone? - a quick look at the Portman Group story will give pause for thought.

It all began in 1989. Alcopops were the new naughty kids on the block and, thanks to the inimitable genius of Fleet Street sub-editors, we had also just entered the era of the "lager lout". Even the supposedly business-friendly Tory government felt under pressure to wade in and legislate hard against the drinks companies and the way they marketed their products.

It was at this point that a group of leading drinks companies got together and decided that it was in their own self-interest to try to promote responsible drinking, to co-operate with government rather than fight battles they were bound ultimately to lose.

The Portman Group was established to fight the drinks industry's corner in a constructive way, helping to prevent the misuse of alcohol, encouraging "responsible" marketing and offering guidance on alcohol-related issues such as health. It has the effective power to direct companies to withdraw products if their marketing breaches Portman Group guidelines - it's self-regulation in action.

The group's first chief executive was John Rae, the urbane former headmaster of Westminster School. Since 1996 it has been run by Jean Coussins. She says: "When I was appointed, I was told that my job was to have a bloody good row with the drinks companies on a regular basis and after one year, at my appraisal, they told me I was doing very well! I took that as a compliment.

"My job is to have a go at them when they put their foot in it, and to do that publicly, as long as I am able to come up with constructive solutions to help them get it right. We criticise in public. I have no problems biting the hand that feeds me."

The industry (or at least the 60 per cent of producers who are members) funds The Portman Group annually to the tune of £2m, but the group maintains operational independence. Coussins cannot afford to be a soft touch. She is quick to intervene when products are being labelled or marketed irresponsibly.

She was in any case a somewhat unlikely convert to the private sector. Her previous job was head of social policy at the Commission for Racial Equality. "A lot of people said when I came here, 'What a crazy move. What's a nice equal-opportunities girl like you doing in the murky waters of the private-sector world?'

''But for me it was a perfectly logical move. I had done a lot of work with the private sector on corporate citizenship, as it was called then. But the fact that this was an industry initiative appealed to me. It avoids the legislative route."

Coussins, however, is not just another glib supporter of "corporate social responsibility", or CSR. "I'm sceptical about the label CSR if it just means companies ticking boxes," she says. "It's not just about using recycled paper, being quite nice to your employees and giving a bit to local charities. The Portman Group has been a trailblazer in this area. It's an expression of CSR that really means something about commercial products."

Ten years on from joining the group, Coussins is preparing to launch the next stage in its evolution: the Drink Aware Trust. The trust is due to be officially blessed by government as part of its "alcohol harm reduction" strategy. It will have a much bigger budget of £5m, and will operate as an educational charity separate from its Portman Group parent, which will become a smaller operation focusing specifically on branding and marketing issues.

Drink Aware is already being promoted by the drinks companies on labels and advertisements. Coussins estimates that existing advertising represents £150m of above-the-line spending. But the ambitious long-term goal of Drink Aware is to try to change the UK's problematic drinking culture.

"I'm very optimistic and realistic," Coussins says. "We've got a good model of success to emulate - the drink-drive campaign. A generation ago, nobody used to think of drink-driving as criminal or anti-social. Now everybody does. And most people would not dream of drink-driving."

She believes that a combination of public education, law enforcement and harsh penalties can turn the culture around, saying: "I don't see why, in a generation's time, we can't have changed attitudes on the public health benefits and the non-acceptability of drunkenness in public. It seems realistic to me and not a nanny-state approach, because it's got a huge public consensus behind it already."

But what about all the horrible images of falling down drunk teenagers in city centres on Friday and Saturday nights, with irresponsible bar owners offering absurd deals on spirits that seem to encourage binge drinking? Isn't there a long way to go before that culture of fast, excessive drinking can be changed?

Coussins agrees the current situation is challenging. "Public tolerance of alcohol-related disorder is at its limits," she says. "But a lot of pub companies support our campaigns - for example, the designated driver campaign 'I'll be Des'.

''The biggest take-up of that campaign was by the on-trade. Pubs already do support our campaigns, but we want on and off-trade to support it."

There is another big player here, of course - already in the spotlight on so many issues. "Supermarkets are also brand owners as well as retailers," Coussins says. "They have to do their bit too. They have a significant market share and we want them on board."

Self-regulation can work. Ten years ago, in the wake of alcopops, the call was for statutory marketing controls. The industry responded effectively. So much so, Coussins says, that she was invited last September to speak about self-regulation at the EU summit in Edinburgh.

But there is still a battle to be fought at the point of sale, as Coussins admits. "When The Portman Group came together the producers owned over half the pubs and virtually all the off-licence chains.

"But over the past seven or eight years there has been a complete restructuring in the industry, with a separation between producers and retailers. There is much less that our producers can do to influence behaviour down the supply chain."

Barman, over to you.

The Portman Group's guidelines

The alcoholic nature of a drink should be communicated on its packaging with absolute clarity. A drink, its packaging and any promotional material or activity should not in any direct or indirect way:
# Have the alcoholic strength, relatively high alcohol content or the intoxicating effect as a dominant theme

# Suggest any association with bravado or with violent, aggressive, dangerous or anti-social behaviour

# Suggest any association with, acceptance of or allusion to illicit drugs

# Suggest any association with sexual success

# Suggest that consumption of the drink can lead to social success or popularity

# Encourage illegal, irresponsible or immoderate consumption, such as binge drinking, drunkenness or drink-driving

# Have a particular appeal to under-18s

# Incorporate images of people who are, or look as if they are, under 25 years of age, unless there is no suggestion that they have just consumed, are consuming or are about to consume alcohol

# Suggest that the product can enhance mental or physical capabilities

Telegraph