I recently fractured a finger in an accident with a taxi’s door. It wasn’t pretty, off work for a week with a heavy sprain, broken bones and massive laceration needing strong antibiotics, painkillers, four stitches with heavy strapping – a lot really for such a small appendage. On returning to and then leaving the Royal University Hospital for a change of dressing and check up on my mangled digit, I travel past some old hunting grounds of Liverpool University on my way to get a bus (cheaper and easier than parking by the hospital) home to get my car for work. On this occasion, I noticed that there was a bus route that dropped 30 seconds walk from my house, so opted for that in the interests of getting back home and onto work a bit quicker. Right next to the bus stop, the old foyer entrance to the Guild of Students was now a Starbuck’s Coffee house. The layout has changed a lot in that building since I last frequented it, whilst working for a University start up company some 13 years ago. It got me thinking about something that I had thought about on the odd occasion a few times before, but never quite as acutely. Why is that space a Starbuck’s?* Why shouldn’t it be something local, something independent and something just a bit more interesting? Shouldn’t the University be looking to work more closely with the local community for business opportunities? * or A N Other large-business franchised/chain space, in the context of this piece. Obviously, the answer is money. As it often is. Universities have suffered repeatedly from funding cuts over the last few decades and despite combinations of sky-rocketing tuition fees, research grants and selling off some family silver (land/other University owned assets) they are struggling. Giving up space for rental to franchised business is a solid revenue stream and (nearly) everyone who attends, teaches or works at a University needs caffeinating at some point. The revenue streams from the rent can always have a heftier margin when the taker is a multi-national franchise that won’t baulk at a big overhead even for small profit margins. It’s an easy win for the University and the franchise. Hypothetically though, couldn’t a well-run local independent take this space and still run it under a sustainably suitable profit? I suppose that’s a question for the bean counters and those who would be willing to gamble with such a business proposition. Putting some rosy tinged goggles on and picturing things in an ideal world, shouldn’t an institution such as a University be looking to be more community minded? They often like to talk of being embedded in the community or culture of a city, which provides the living space, social environs and other bedrock of amenities that life as a student (or academic) requires. Would an institution such as a University providing space for a local business owner to sell their coffee, tea and other sundries to students not be a revenue stream but also a tangible action on this statement of being part of a community? I know that this is something of a departure from the beer-talk usually covered on these pages, but there is some transferable application here. The only time I have been aware of a University bar (promoting community) installing local beer was when Melwood Beer Company installed handpulls at the Liverpool University’s Sphinx Bar located in the Student’s Union. It would be good to see more of a commitment from community institutions such as Universities, investing a bit more in local product. Showcase the best of a city or region by buying from local producers and expose them to the students, many of whom are visitors to the city from across the country and many from beyond the UK’s borders. Okay, so the beers present in Student’s Union bars are subsidised let’s not forget, with most University bars selling Carling, Carlsberg, Guinness and the likes of Worthington or Tetley Smoothflow or occasionally something a little more interesting. They are sold at a discounted rate (back in my undergrad days – showing my age, I paid £1.10 for Carlsberg or, when I saw the light in the student hall’s bar I would go on to be assistant manager of, £1.40 for a pint of Lowenbrau). These days, you can pick up a pint of Carling for £2 in the University of Liverpool Student Union, with a pint of the Sphinx cask ale at £2.40, which is not a massive discrepancy. The margins at which macro-brewers and distributors operate probably mean that realistically, the local beers wouldn’t get a look-in and psychologically that 40p adds up to a lot when you're on a budget and you're drinking quantity. The need to provide cheap beer is strong, especially with the current University age generation tending to eschew alcoholic drinks as a trend compared to previous generations. So there is a need to make beer and cider attractively priced for those that are not teetotal and being students, on a limited budget. The lines at these premises are probably tied to a distributor too, twinned with the fact that if the contract the University runs is worth over a certain amount, it can potentially come under a framework agreement (they have to award a fixed term contract to a company or number of companies, who will have the monopoly of supply over the term, unless they breach said contract… or something along those lines) meaning the smaller companies won’t get a look in from that angle either (being unable to supply the quantities big contracts demand, at least at the expense of other custom). This kind of scenario also affects local sports teams. Whilst it might not be the purest example of a tie in to local, the pairing of Tottenham Hotspur with Beavertown is a case where a sports team/business has looked to source something locally and anecdotally from speaking to Spurs fans I am acquainted with, it works and is very welcome. The prospect of being able to sink a neck oil or gamma ray before the match instead of something fizzy, yellow and vaguely ‘beer’ flavoured, works well for a lot of match goers. But the Beavertown/Heineken buyout thing aside, wouldn’t it be excellent if every rugby club (league and union) and football league team had a commitment to invest and source producers locally? Especially those with a distinct regional identity, independent and locally owned.
Locally on Merseyside, Glen Affric Brewery have beer being sold at the Tranmere Rovers Fan Club Tent, but not actually within the football ground. This exposure has definitely had some input in increasing awareness of locals and match goers to the fact they have a brewery and associated taproom on their doorstep. Whilst this association is not an ‘official’ one in regards to a link with the football club, it has anecdotally given a boost to the brewery according to co-founder Craig McCormick. “Whilst we have had some beers in the Tranmere ground on one occasion, the uptake of our beers at the fan tent has really given some extra footfall to the taproom and people do recognise the brand and what we have on offer. Whether the level of success we have experienced could be much greater by actually having our beers in Prenton Park is anyone’s guess!” Visitors to any city or region often have a thirst for the unique experience that place has to offer, sports tourism is massive and refreshment is a major element of that. Being able to drink or eat something produced locally not only invests in the community being visited, but provides a sense of place. Would visitors be so ready to have a break in a location with the ubiquitous character as their home town or another place they have visited? Let’s face it, drinking a latte and eating a pre-packed cheese sandwich in one branch of a chain coffee shop is much the same in another branch, regardless of where you are in the UK. Granted you know what you’re getting and it often saves having to do much research when you just want a coffee, but it’s all rather soulless. Despite playing devil’s advocate in a business sense here, surely there is some mileage in ‘community minded’ institutions departing slightly from this model and giving some kind of opportunity to local businesses? If they wish to extol their credentials as some kind of active participant in a community, they need to put their money where their mouth (and property portfolio) is. Pedro.
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