A bad review that starts trending, a sudden closure, a health and safety story picked up by a local paper, none of these end a hospitality brand on their own. What decides the outcome is almost always how the first few hours are handled.
Kitten & Shark is a boutique, senior-led crisis management PR agency based in London, working with hotels, restaurants, travel, and hospitality brands across the UK and Europe. When a story breaks, you work directly with our senior PR consultants, not a junior team, so you get experienced advice in the first few hours when it matters most, and that senior judgment is the core of good crisis communications.
This page covers what a crisis management PR agency actually does, what to do first when a story breaks, whether you need a crisis communications plan, and what this kind of support costs.
Crisis management, sometimes called crisis communications, is the acute end of reputation work: the fast, high-stakes response when a specific story threatens your brand. It sits alongside the slower, ongoing work of corporate reputation management, which builds the goodwill you can draw on when something goes wrong.
The two are connected. A brand that has invested in its reputation and has a plan ready handles a crisis far better than one starting from scratch under pressure.
A crisis management PR agency helps you respond when a story threatens your reputation. The work usually brings together the following:
The first few hours of a crisis matter most. Acting quickly and calmly, rather than either going quiet or reacting emotionally, is what protects a brand. A sensible first response usually looks like this:
Establish what has actually happened before you say anything publicly.
Acknowledge the situation calmly and buy time to respond properly.
Decide who speaks, and make sure everyone else routes queries to them.
Tell staff, partners and, where needed, guests what is happening and what to say.
Track coverage and social, then follow up with the right detail as it develops.
A crisis communications plan, sometimes called a PR crisis management plan or procedure, is a simple document agreed in advance that sets out who does what when a story breaks: the spokesperson, the approval chain, holding-statement templates and key contacts.
You do not need a thick manual. For most hotels, restaurants and hospitality groups, a short, practical plan is enough to save the panic of starting from nothing at the worst possible moment. We often build one during calmer periods so it is ready if you ever need it.
The role of PR in crisis management is to manage the story and protect trust while the operational side handles the incident itself. A few situations we see often:
Where a story starts with, or spreads through, content creators, this overlaps closely with our influencer marketing work, so the response can be handled across both at once.
Disruption is a matter of when, not if.
PwC's Global Crisis and Resilience Survey (2023) found that 91% of organisations had experienced at least one significant disruption beyond the pandemic, and 89% now say resilience is one of their top strategic priorities.
For hospitality brands, a single review, headline or creator video can spread across social and news channels within hours, so the difference between a manageable moment and lasting damage is usually preparation and a fast, senior-led response.
Crisis management PR is handled in two ways. Many brands keep us on a retainer that includes crisis support, so we already know the business and can move fast if something happens. Others come to us in the middle of a live crisis, which we handle as an urgent project.
Boutique, senior-led consultancies typically start from a few thousand pounds a month for ongoing support, while live crisis work is priced on its intensity and duration. The most cost-effective approach is usually to agree a simple plan and light-touch retainer before you need it, rather than paying premium rates under pressure.
Kitten & Shark is a boutique PR consultancy where our senior consultants work directly on your account, which matters more in a crisis than anywhere else. When a story breaks, you reach experienced people who already know your brand and can advise calmly, not a junior team learning on the job. Our focus remains firmly on hospitality brands, from boutique and independent hotels to restaurants, small hotel groups, and travel businesses.
Alongside the core team, we draw on a wider network across legally aware messaging, social media, digital and international media when a crisis calls for it, so you get the focus of a boutique agency with the reach of a larger one. The aim is always the same: protect your reputation through the difficult moment, then help you rebuild afterwards.
A crisis management PR agency helps a brand respond when a story threatens its reputation. That includes rapid holding statements, media handling, spokesperson and message support, monitoring how a story spreads, keeping staff and partners informed, and rebuilding reputation afterwards. The aim is to limit damage and protect trust.
Crisis management in PR, also called crisis communications, is the fast, high-stakes response when a specific story threatens a brand. It is the acute end of reputation work, focused on what you say, what you leave unsaid and who says it, so you protect trust through a difficult moment.
Get the facts, issue a calm holding statement, agree a single spokesperson, brief your team so everyone routes queries the right way, and monitor how the story is spreading. Acting quickly and calmly in the first few hours, rather than going silent or reacting emotionally, is what protects a brand.
A crisis communications plan, or PR crisis management plan, is a short document agreed in advance setting out the spokesperson, approval chain, holding-statement templates and key contacts. Most hotels and hospitality groups benefit from one, because it saves starting from nothing at the worst possible moment. It does not need to be long to be useful.
It is usually handled either as a retainer that includes crisis support, so we already know your brand and can move fast, or as an urgent project during a live crisis. Boutique consultancies typically start from a few thousand pounds a month for ongoing support, with live crisis work priced on its intensity. Agreeing a plan before you need it is the most cost-effective route.
By responding quickly and calmly, controlling the facts and the message, choosing the right spokesperson, and being honest about what has happened and what you are doing about it. Silence and defensiveness usually make things worse. Clear, considered communication, backed by senior judgement, protects trust and speeds recovery.
PR manages the story and protects trust while the operational side handles the incident itself. That means advising on what to say and when, handling the media, briefing stakeholders and monitoring coverage, so the response is calm, consistent and credible rather than reactive.
Yes. We often build a simple crisis communications plan and provide light-touch retained support during calmer periods, so a spokesperson, holding statements and contacts are ready in advance. Being prepared makes any real crisis far easier to handle.