University of Sussex Students' Union
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Shops & Bars

We run a number of shops and bars on campus whose profits go back into the Students' Union - £183,500 in 2011!

Using our shops and bars means your money stays on campus and goes back to benefit students.

We offer flexible jobs for students and employ an average of 140 students across our shops and bars.

We'd love to have your feedback (good and bad!) and input to ensuring all our services are what you want so contact us if you have any comments.

Contents

► About us

USSU Trading Ltd is the commercial trading arm of the students' union. The company operates just like any other business, but with a difference - we're a social enterprise. This means that our primary purpose is not just to make as much profit as we can, but rather to use our commercial activities to deliver upon our social aims, which are;

  • To provide services for students
  • To raise income for the Students' Union
  • To provide jobs for students, and on flexible terms that supports their learning commitments
  • To deliver an increasing range of social impacts via our commercial activities

In order to deliver the above aims, we need to ensure that our trading activities are sustainable. In essence, we need to trade profitably. But this is where the big difference is, because after costs, every penny of our surplus is spent on services for students at Sussex!

So you see it really is the case that when you spend money in any of the union's shops & bars, after operating costs are deducted, everything else goes straight back to students, so it's one of the best forms of recycling you can participate in!

We employ an average of about 140 students across our three shops and two bars. Last year we had a net turnover of about £3.8 million, and from this achieved an operating profit of £435,000. After contributing about £300K to central & union costs, we then handed back the remaining surplus of c.£135K to the union!

The Union's shops and bars are here to serve you the students, and the wider campus community, and we want to provide you with the best services possible. We'd love to have your feedback (good and bad!), and input to ensuring all our services are meeting your needs, and are what you actually want. Contact us if you have any comments.

2009/10 Impact Report

You can read our impact report online (click to view fullscreen) or contact us if you'd like this information in another format.