Wednesday 26-08-2020 - 15:58

On 30th of July the Trustee Board directed the Full Time Officer Team and the Interim CEO to open discussions with the University to ask for a rent reduction due to the financial challenges the Students’ Union Central Supermarket was facing as a direct result of COVID-19.  

Following this, your Full Time Officer Team published a letter to the Vice Chancellor Andy Schofield requesting a rent reduction for the Central Supermarket that would allow us to reach a break-even position for the year. In response to that letter, the University categorically rejected the possibility of a rent reduction with no alternative offer. 

Please note: The Trustee Board holds the authority to close Central, which is in contrary to the email from the University which is factually incorrect.  

Disappointingly, they further suggested that they had “every confidence” they could replace the Central Supermarket, despite public knowledge the premises are not in a commercially desirable campus location, demonstrating a lack of empathy towards students who could bear the brunt of the sustained vacancy while a replacement is sought simply due to no movement on the rent.  

After much deliberation in the meeting on the 21st of August, the Trustee Board felt it had no option other than to regrettably close Central Supermarket from the 1st - 13th of September. During this period, the Union will conduct a comprehensive review into operations to establish if more can be done to save money, allowing Central to proceed on a more sustainable basis. The Board understands the implications of this decision on the students remaining on campus, so chose to close during a time that minimises impact on students. As a Union we put our students first and know that COVID-19 has brought many financial challenges for individuals, so we have guaranteed to honour all our student staff shifts as originally planned. They will be responsible for making sure Central Supermarket is ready for the new term. 

In this time, we will continue to lobby the University about the long-term position of the store in order to secure a more sustainable offer for students. We encourage you all to join us and sign our petition and make sure your voice is heard. Every penny you spend in Central Supermarket directly goes into the Students’ Union charity which supports you in everything from the Advice service to sports clubs.  

Whatever the outcome, your Students’ Union will re-open the store as we know it’s a crucial service for students in the new academic year. The Trustee Board will continue to monitor the situation closely and see if the financial position has improved by December.  

If you have any queries or comments please email Oliver Robinson at su.president@lancaster.ac.uk.