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.

► Case studies

I am a frequent customer at the Box Office, I not only use it for purchasing tickets to some great events but also to sell tickets for events that my society has organised.

The Box Office is great partly because of its location, its in the middle of the central hub for students who can't miss it and its posters, and because it is so easy for us and for students, without the Box Office we'd either have to sell them by person which is hard or pay for a box office in town to sell them plus students don't hve to move far to buy things. I would say that it is because of the Box Office that events that I have helped organise for my societies have turned out to be so fantastic.

My favourite thing about the service would be no matter if the weather is reenacting a scene from 'The Perfect Storm' or the sunniest day of the year, Jane the Box Office Assistant is always there smiling and happy to see everyone who comes in. You don't often come across service that good anymore.

I'm always recommending the use of the Box Office to others, usually to buy tickets to my events but also to let them know that there is a hard-working, well organised service available for students that will help promote and sell tickets to events that they want to put on.

Benjamin May, Life Science society & SMuTS (Sussex Musical Theatre Society)

From the moment I read the online application form, I knew that working for the Students' Union would be something different, something unique. In fact, I filled out the application form fully expecting it to go no further – I assumed that the attraction of working for a non-profit, campus based, ethical and student-run organisation would create too much competition for me to stand any realistic chance.

However, this assumption may well have won me an interview: I decided that there was no point in holding back, that I should put as much of myself into the application as I could, and just hope that something would make me stand out from the crowd. Amazingly, it worked – and over the past three years I have continued to put as much of myself into the role as possible, in an attempt to make the most of this brilliant opportunity.

Working for the retail branch of the Students' Union really has been a brilliant opportunity, in so many ways: the responsibility, the flexibility, the sense of community, the support (financial and otherwise) – the list just goes on. Through three years of university, and some much needed and appreciated time afterwards, the Students' Union has been there for me. As a supervisor especially, the training I have been given and the skills I have learnt are absolutely invaluable. Like everyone, I have had my share of ups and downs – but I know that I will be taking some great memories and a wealth of transferable experience with me.

I simply would not have been able to find the same degree of trust, respect and encouragement anywhere else – and this is something which can be wholly attributed to the remarkable people working within the Students' Union, from management to retail staff. I cannot ever fully thank the many people I have been fortunate enough to work with in my time here, or begin to explain the extent to which I feel I have grown as a person because of them. I only hope that what I have written here can, in some small way, begin to express the depth of my feelings and thanks to everyone for giving me such an interesting, challenging and memorable three years.

Nikki, Union Shops Supervisor

Shops & Bars

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► Case studies