Q: Morrisons recently felt it had to say sorry after a chicken label used the term “non-EU salt”. What do you think is the secret to a good corporate apology – and should companies even have to say sorry?

A: I vividly remember my masterclass in media relations. It was 1975, before my very first radio interview. The hot topic in shoe retailing at the time was a high level of customer complaints – so high they were under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading.

“Don’t copy your competitors,” was my advice. “They stick to a script that talks about the 97pc of customers who never encounter a problem. Complainers aren’t bothered about what went right, so don’t fudge the issue. Your job is to talk about what went wrong.”

It was excellent advice, so when asked the question on air (“recent reports suggest a significant increase in complaints about footwear – do you think there’s a problem?”), I replied by apologising, never mentioned all our satisfied customers and concentrated on what we were doing to resolve the complaints.

A few months later, we published our Money Back Promise: “If you have good reason to be dissatisfied, you will get your money back.”

Our biggest competitor claimed it was like giving petrol to an arsonist. Our new complaints policy helped us to claim the moral high ground, and the Office of Fair Trading gave its public backing to the publication, which we called the “Timpson Code of Practice”. It helped us to gain a reputation for good customer service.

That was 45 years ago. Today, management teams are under much more pressure. They don’t just face criticism from customers; they can be pilloried for failing to follow government guidelines (especially if a regulator is involved), while some of the harshest recrimination can come from the “woke” community.

Many companies say sorry to individual customers several times a day, but the job is often delegated to a computer. “Our lines are busy at the moment. We’re sorry to keep you waiting, but your call is important to us” is a common one. “Thank you for your email. We apologise for any inconvenience and will send a response within the next 10 days” is another.

Customers are seldom satisfied when a company has automated its customer service. It works much better when they’re contacted on the telephone, especially, as occasionally happens at Timpson, when it’s the chief executive who makes the call.

The perfect apology is made quickly and without any reservation, with a promise that lessons have been learnt. The boss should take full responsibility, even though everyone knows the problem may well have been caused by a middle management colleague who made a “genuine mistake”.

There’s no place for the word “but”; it’s so much better to take the complaint on the chin rather than trotting out a list of excuses that show it isn’t really your fault. The world admires people who hold up their arms and say sorry. There’s no need to meet every bit of criticism with an unconditional “sorry”. Some complaints are based on individual prejudice or a misunderstanding, so only accept responsibility if you truly believe that you have made a mistake.

Complaining customers aren’t always right. Just because they believe you shouldn’t be closing their local store doesn’t mean you should apologise on bended knee, but you should explain the reason for the closure. Executives seldom get any credit for saying “no comment”.

I have so far restricted my comments to those occasions when it’s right to accept that you’re totally in the wrong, but we have moved into a world where many transgressions have little to do with just delivering poor customer service or failing to uphold proper standards of health and safety.

The expansion of legislation over the last 25 years and the increased government control during the Covid epidemic has led to an impression that every business must follow Whitehall guidelines. For some sectors, such as banking and gambling, state regulators have a major influence on how companies are managed (thankfully, there isn’t a regulator for key cutters and cobblers).

Admitting criticism from a regulator can be expensive. An aggrieved customer can stop placing any repeat orders, but regulators may have powers to impose substantial fines.

So, sometimes, saying sorry can be costly, whether you’re defending an attack from the regulator or facing unjustified comments from an activist who thinks you are in the wrong.

But most chief executives aren’t faced with the pressures of social politics or government regulation – they just need to say sorry in a way that accepts responsibility while preserving their reputation.

Sir John Timpson is chairman of the high-street services provider, Timpson.

Send him a question at askjohn@telegraph.co.uk and read more answers from his Ask John column here