Thank you so much to everyone who has engaged with our Main Bar Survey.
We’ve seen a few posts going around and had some questions about the survey — so we wanted to make sure you had clear and correct information.
Right now, we’re gathering facts and don’t want to influence anyone’s responses. What we do want is for you to have the right information so you can complete the survey confidently. If you’ve got questions, please reach out — we’re happy to talk to anyone further who has questions or concerns.
Your Questions Answered:
Why are the Union doing a Main Bar survey?
• For a number of years the Association has not been financially stable.
• Main Bar has not been developed for over a decade, and we need to find out what you want from this space to ensure we plan correctly.
Why are you asking about a franchise?
• We have been tasked by our Board (the governing body of the Association) to explore viable options to allow us to continue serving food from Main Bar, to ensure we continue to be a hub for students, and to allow us to be financially viable as an organisation.
What would operating with a franchise mean?
• A franchise is essentially about a brand, its products, and its systems. To clarify: the bar would be wholly owned and operated by the Students’ Association. It would be our staff, employed by the union just as they are now. We would still be able to run events, show sports, and the space would remain ours.
How do you know a franchise option is the right thing to do?
• At the moment we don’t, that’s why we are doing everything we can to ensure we make an informed decision, this involves:
- Exploring options available to us
- Adapting the way we currently operate
- Working with the university
- Using a franchise
- Talking to other student unions
- Analysing student feedback via our survey
- Talking to students via our Forums and at our pop-ups
Would student staff lose their jobs if we went with a franchise?
• No student staff would lose jobs because of a franchise coming in.
Would student activities be affected if Main Bar is franchised?
• No student activity in the Union will be stopped because of a franchise. Alongside this, we’re running a separate project to explore how we can make the very best use of all our spaces across the building to support student life.
• With such a large building, we have the capacity to host a wide range of initiatives in different areas — whether that’s in Main Bar, Rector’s, Beacon Bar, or a society room. This flexibility means we can cater to diverse student activities while ensuring the Union remains a hub for the whole student community.
• The Change Programme we have undergone recently was about modernising our Union to ensure we are accessible and empowering for all students – any changes we make will ensure student voice and activities are at the centre of these and will be an enabler not a barrier for activity.
What about student society funds?
• Every penny you spend in the building goes straight back into funding student activity and representation. Which is the reason we exist. Our aim is to make Main Bar profitable which would enable us to reinvest more money back into student activity.
Would dietary requirements be catered for?
• Whatever direction we take, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten‑free options will always be available.
Would food and drinks be more expensive?
• The options we are exploring are to ensure we can remain competitive and keep cost to our members as low as they possibly can be, our aim would be to keep prices the same or even lower than we’re currently offering.
Would it affect how safe we feel?
• We would still have ownership of the space, staffing it accordingly with our student and permanent members from Customers Safety and Bars Team. Safety would remain our top priority.
• Our entry policy will not change - members of the public are already allowed into the Union and we would keep our safeguarding policies in place.
Would it still feel like a student bar?
• Yes, we would get to pick the name, the branding, the colour scheme, the signage and posters we put up etc.
Would it cost the Union money?
• There would be an investment if this is the route we chose. However, whatever we do, we need to invest to ensure our services are financially viable and relevant.
• We would only make this investment if we were confident it would then generate money to reinvest in student activity and nothing would be deducted from the student spend as a result of an investment.
Got more questions?
• We urge anyone who has any questions to reach out to us directly via presed@ or presaffs@ if you’d like to speak to an Exec member, or unioncomms@ if you’d like to speak to a staff member or submit feedback via our form.
We want every student to have the best possible experience at university and in St Andrews. Your feedback is vital in helping us improve, grow, and ensure we’re always here to support you.