Campus bar closures confirmed
DESPITE THE ‘Save our Bars’ campaign, Commercial Services are proceeding with planned closures of campus bars next academic year.
A leaked report entitled ‘Bar Closures – An update from the Students’ Union’ sets out the University’s plans to restrict Langwith, Alcuin and Wentworth bars’ opening hours to only two nights a week. JJ’s is set to open four nights a week, with only Derwent, Goodricke and Vanbrugh facing minimal or no changes to their opening.
David Garner, the University Press Officer, has been unable to confirm the exact configuration of bar opening hours next term, as “Some details of these [closures] are still under discussion”. Nat Thwaites-McGowan, the SU Services and Finance Officer, has confirmed, however, that the SU report is correct and that the bar closures will take effect from October.
The SU report contains financial figures which reveal that Langwith, Alcuin and Wentworth bars made combined losses of nearly £14,000 over the autumn and spring terms. However, all seven bars made a profit of almost £80,000 over the same period. The report also shows that Commercial Services hope to save around £18,000 by restricting bar opening times.
The University first announced plans to close campus bars at the end of February as part of a University-wide effort to counter its financial deficit of over £3 million. Andy Summers, the University Bar and Licensing Manager, originally presented the University’s plans to close all but three bars in confidential meetings with Micky Armstrong, SU President. At the time Armstrong complained that he had experienced “quite a lot of resistance” from Commercial Services.
The ensuing ‘Save our Bars’ campaign, which involved a week long ‘barcott’, has been declared “very successful” by the SU. During the boycott, all but two bars were closed by the University. Over two thousand signatures were collected in a petition and the SU urged students to ‘Use It or Lose It’ and pack out campus bars in the week following the barcott.
The adoption of Model 29+, which leaves 29 bar nights open per week, is being seen as a victory by the SU despite the closures. Armstrong has said “the University had been planning to completely close Alcuin, Langwith and Wentworth bars… we’ve managed to save the service provision in every college. I think it’s a huge success”.
Thwaites-McGowan said “A lot of our wins are not extra nights, we got our wins in that the University are not closing four bars. They are not restricting bar opening this term, and our biggest win is that they’re talking to us properly”. Alcuin, the most unprofitable bar, made a loss of £6,000 in the last two terms. The SU see the fact that Alcuin and Langwith are staying open on nights when they have consistently failed to break even as a major victory.
Despite these successes, Goodricke bar is set to close on Sunday nights. Matt Burton, Goodricke JCR Chair, has expressed his “disappointment” that service provision is still being reduced despite Commercial Services’ figures showing that the bar made a profit on Sunday nights over the autumn and spring terms.
All seven campus bars will open every night of week one during Freshers’ Fortnight, bar closures will take effect from week two in Langwith and Alcuin.
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