Wetherspoons has taken over a Scottish student union bar. The English chain will open the bar, named The Red Gown, at the University of St Andrews.
It will open on Friday, September 4, just in time for freshers' week. The new Wetherspoons is the first to open in St Andrews and will be the first Wetherspoons in a university in Scotland, but the fifth in the UK, following universities in Newcastle, Birmingham, Surrey, and Hull. Wetherspoons said that it is looking to open more pubs in universities.
The Students’ Association has said it is "delighted" at the new loan agreement, and said the partnership will "bring new opportunities, increased employment, and better-value food and drink". The franchise has been supported by the majority of students, 66%, though concerns have been raised over potential damage done to smaller pubs in the town. It will be open to the public.
Fourth year student, Jay Dancu, says: "I have a lot of worries about what will happen to a student space that will now be open to the public, especially a Wetherspoons that will invite a crowed that might not necessarily mix well.
"I’m sure it will bring a lot of people out more to the union and socialise, but there’s always going to be tensions between the public and students."
Students working in the Students’ Association’s original bar will retain their current working contracts, including terms and conditions maintaining the National Living Wage for those under twenty-one.
Chris Clarke, chief operating officer of the Students’ Association, says the Main Bar had been encountering funding issues so severe that the bar had run a deficit every year since Covid.
Funding issues left the association with the option to shut or accept Wetherspoons' offer. Aside from a refurbishment, not much is expected to change. The Students’ Association will retain control and ownership of the space and late-night events in the club next door, 601, will remain student-only.
In July, it was reported that Wetherspoons had issued its fourth profit warning, as sales were below targets despite FIFA World Cup expected to rectify margins.
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