h-bar hit by College cuts

Staff and postgraduate students have been left disgruntled following the announcement that the popular h-bar will be ceasing its evening bar food service.

The decision, which was taken by College, means that, from Friday 1st March, food will no longer be available in h-bar after 7pm. This change is the latest in a slew of recent changes to Campus services.

h-bar, which is Imperial’s postgraduate pub and bar, is run as a joint venture between Imperial College and the Union, with the food offering provided by College and the drinks provided by the Union. The decision to cut the post-supper offering was allegedly made due to approximately “£20k loss a month”. However, College has come into criticism from the student body and affected staff for the sudden nature of this announcement, the apparent lack of transparency and student consultation, and for taking another decision based on a financial criteria rather than the students’ experience.

“It’s a financial loss – we lose money on it but it’s a service to the students. The h bar in general loses us money.”

Felix can reveal that the elected Sabbatical officers were not consulted prior to the decision being made and were only notified on Friday 8th February, despite the obvious implications that such a decision will have on the Union’s drink sales. In a statement provided to Felix on behalf of Imperial College Union, Rob Tomkies (Union President), said:

“The Union only received a week's notice that the food service in h-bar was being cut by College. We are extremely disappointed at the lack of any form of consultation or conversation with the Union before this decision was made. h-bar is one of the few specifically postgraduate and staff social spaces on campus and, as such, the effect that this will have on the community is unacceptable. In the mean-time the Union is looking at how to minimise the impact of their decision and ensure that h-bar remains a key part of the post graduate social community. The bottom line is our postgraduates make up half our membership, we’re committed to building our offering and how we support them going forward and we’re not going to let a College decision unduly impact that.”

Speaking to Felix, Jane Neary, Director of Campus Services in the College, responded to the criticism, saying: “That service is not a College service, it’s a service to the Union to supplement their bar service; I’ve axed a service to the Union that they no longer say they can afford.”

Jane also claims that this decision should come as no shock, given that discussions between College and the Union have been ongoing for the past eight months. The fact that the sabbatical officers were not privy to these discussions once again highlights an apparent disconnect between the College and the Union and, within the Union, a stark disconnect between the sabbatical officers and the Senior Management Group (SMG) within the Union.

College has been accused of using its “power and wealth to destroy h-bar” and demonstrating “once again that it has absolutely no regard for the satisfaction of students and staff, and continues to act as a profit-driven business, exploiting its students”, to which Jane responded:

“Quite the opposite, I’m trying to keep our bit going even though it’s costing us money. We do a lot behind the scenes to help that service because I believe in it but, after the supper finishes, it is a Union space.”

Jane continued, claiming that the following was put to the Union: “We’re selling your product, this product is now no longer affordable. Do you want to pay more for this product, either by charging the end-user, or do you want to subsidise the chef, because it’s not cost-effective?”

The decision was allegedly then taken following the Union declining to meet the College halfway.

When questioned on why students were not engaged prior to the decision being made, Jane replied: “Because it wasn’t our service. The service wasn’t to the students, the service was to the Union because it was there to supplement their beer service. It wasn’t a college service. The college service is the supper service.” This response has been criticised due to the perception that stopping the service to the Union will, by extension, ultimately deprive the student body of said service.

The "supper service" refers to the buffet service which is available from 5-7pm and has been extended such that it is now on offer from Monday to Friday. h-bar users are also now allowed to bring any foods / get take away delivered into the bar.

Discussions between the Union and College are ongoing, in an attempt to arrive at a suitable contingency plan until something more permanent can be agreed. It has been suggested that the Union could use the shared kitchen to provide Imperial College Union food at h-bar, which could “make the bar/restaurant thrive”. This option is under consideration.

Disgruntled staff and students are being encouraged to sign a student-led online petition attempting to overturn the decision prior to it coming into effect next Friday.