YUSU’s attempt to save Café Barista seems set to fail after University Registrar David Duncan confirmed his intention to shut the café.
Duncan explained that “the money we save [from Café Barista’s closure] would be invested in B Henry’s, which clearly needs to be upgraded.
“We are also looking at ways of increasing the seating capacity in and around the Library Café,” he added.
Duncan also confirmed that staff based at Café Barista will not lose their jobs and will instead be redeployed to other sites on campus.
Vision asked a sample group of 53 people on campus about the matter. 20 people either did not know where the cafe is or had never been, and 46 out of the 53 polled did not care about its potential closure.
When Sam Thorpe-Spinks, a second year History and Politics student and one of our sample, was asked his opinion on the matter, he commented: “What’s Café Barista?”
There were huge altercations between YUSU and University management over whether or not to keep it open.
Since the successful opening of the Library Café, Barista, which can only serve coffee and cold food at limited hours, has seen a drop in trade and is set to make a loss this year.
Duncan agreed to keep it open for a fortnight at the beginning of term, telling Vision: “The main problem with the café is that it’s set up in a common room. It has a cold water supply only, no waste facilities and no mechanical extraction. Consequently, we can’t broaden the offering and give customers a decent choice.”
The University plans to replace Barista with a Costa Coffee vending machine and allow staff and students to use the area as a common room.
YUSU President Kallum Taylor has criticised the plans, saying: “It wouldn’t exactly take the business consultancy of Steve Jobs, Deborah Meaden or Sir Alan Sugar to establish that Café Barista really isn’t being made the most of.”
YUSU launched a petition to save the cafe, which has so far collected over 1,000 signatures.
The petition states “very little effort has been put into maintaining Barista as an attractive alternative competitor to the other Campus North ventures such as the Library Café and B-Henry’s.”
Taylor notes that Health Sciences students are significantly more affected than most and that the lack of pre-warning or discussion “implies that the University don’t care or understand them.”
A second year Politics and Philosophy student commented: “It appears as if a small number of people are concerned about its proposed closure but to be honest it’s too small a number.”
Vision also spoke to Mi Yang Jun, a Social Policy student. She explained that she had signed the petition and stated: “I feel my choice is limited because the cafe is closing and wish they would improve rather than closing.”
The decision on whether or not to close the Alcuin café, based in the Seebohm Rowntree building, will be made next week.