This week we launched a brand new website as part of our committment to help all students better understand how the Union's budget and finances work. We get lots of feedback asking 'why can't this be cheaper', or 'why can't you spend more money on that', and it's really important for everyone to understand the constraints we operate in - doing more of one thing (or reducing the price), often means doing less of another.
That said, one of our five values is trustworthy, and that means we're passionate about charging a fair price for things. We're constantly looking at ways we can reduce costs in our trading operation (the shop, bars, events and entertainment), to give you the best value for money possible.
Over the past two years, we've been able to make a number of changes on the basis of student feedback. Some of these are:
- We’ve introduced term passes for our function nights, reducing the price of Wednesday and Friday night events to £4 – which covers the costs of the acts, stewards and things like cleaning up after the night.
- We’ve implemented a brand new finance policy around procurement, which makes sure we look at lots of options for things that cost us a lot of money – for example our cleaning contract. We get as much for your money as possible.
- We’ve frozen the cost of student opportunities membership for the past three years, and even introduced discounted 2 and 3 year options.
- When we took over the campus shop from the College, we changed the main supplier to Coop, which reduced lots of the prices on campus. We also abolished the card charges and agreed to pay the VAT on sanitary products. We know things aren't as cheap as Tesco, but that's because we simply don't have the buying power that large supermakets have to push prices down (and in some cases below cost).
- We’ve frozen the prices in Tommy’s Kitchen for over three years, even reducing the price of the mammoth Founder’s Burger. We also introduced a brand new pizza and drink offer in the evening.
- We’ve lowered the price of a soft drink to £1 a pint, making sure it’s always cheaper than an alcoholic alternative.
- We’ve added a number of offers to give you better value, for example the 5 VKs for £10 – where we know you like to buy them as a group. It’s not about selling more, it’s just about offering you better value for money.
- We’ve frozen the price of Summer Ball for the past five years. And we now offer a large number of early bird discounted tickets to make sure the event is available to everyone.
But we're not complacent and we'll always try to do more. Keep your eyes peeled on the Students' Union website for further updates.