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| Student union bars on the decline |
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Originally published December 1, 2009 COMPETITION FROM off-licenses, student-friendly chain bars and sheer student workload are contributing to a decline in the number of student union bars currently operating in the UK.
University bars, the longstanding havens of the beleaguered student seeking a pint, have seen profits halved in the past decade, down to £25 million nationally. Richard Budden, the Vice-President of Union Development at the National Union of Students, recently told The Times that “takings are down 50 percent from ten years ago, students are drinking less and being forced to work more.” In this age of dismal graduate job prospects and increased competition, it is no surprise that many students are choosing to spend their leisure time developing their CVs, not kicking back in the pub. “I hardly ever drink at union bars, only sometimes at Teviot, it’s just not convenient for me, because I live at Pollock. Besides, it’s much cheaper to pre-drink before going out,” says first-year French and Linguistics student Jenny Cole. Bristol University’s student union recently closed one of its bars and re-opened the space as a popular juice bar, with an astounding turn-over of £200,000 a year. This trend is being echoed by Anglia Ruskin University, which converted its bar into a gym. Lisa Pool, Communications Officer and Vice-President of Anglia Ruskin’s student union told The Times that the union conducted focus groups throughout the remodelling process and that “with the increase in tuition fees students are wanting more from the degree and from the university experience, and are drinking less.” In Edinburgh, EUSA recently lowered drinks prices at union bars, despite having to comply with new licensing laws, which came into effect on September 1st and curb excessive drinking by cracking down on happy hours and pound-a-pint offers at pubs and clubs. Drinks prices must remain the same for a period of 72 hours and promotions which encourage heavy drinking have been banned. EUSA bars have a minimum drink price of £1.80, with the exception of £1.50 deals at Potterrow. EUSA officials could not be reached for comment as to whether the lowering of prices was an effort to combat low sales numbers.
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