Where does the money come from?
Our money comes from two sources. Our primary funding comes form the University by way of an annual Core Grant and our secondary source comes from our campus based Commercial Services:
- The Store
- The Mini Store
- Everything Essex
- SU Bar
- Top Bar
- The Kitchen
- The Greenhouse Cafe
- Sub Zero
- The In-Between
Some of our Commercial Services make a small loss, which we accept as we know they are important to our members.
The profits made by our Commercial Services are referred to as “contribution” as they make a contribution to the running costs of the Union, (for example, Finance, Facilities, Marketing and HR) and our Student Activities & Support Services, such as SU Advice, VTeam, campaigns, events (such as Freshers Fair, Fireworks etc.), activities (such as SU Makes, Community Mixers). Our Commercial Services are also our main provider of Student Jobs.
2023-24 BUDGET
WHAT DOES IT COST TO RUN THE SU?
We break our costs into two sections. It costs £3m for SU Advice, sports clubs, societies, volunteering, campaigns, events, and paying all of our staff, including elected student officers. This figure also includes £726k for paying student staff wages.
It costs £4.6 million to run our commercial outlets, including buying stock, employing staff, general running costs and making sure everything runs smoothly.
HOW DO YOU SET YOUR PRICES?
To fund all the good stuff that the SU runs for our members we have to make sure our commercial outlets are making a gross profit. We need to pay for things like staff, insurance, card takings charges, and all of our other overheads. Products that have a large profit margin help us to keep the price down of the things that don't. We are constantly checking that our products are working as hard as they can to help fund great work. We could decrease our prices by employing more permanent staff. With permanent staff, there are no shift changeovers which means it would be more efficient. However, we are committed to providing as many student jobs as possible to enable them to access paid work on campus and to gain valuable work experience.
BREAKDOWN OF A PINT
Selling Price: £3.50
VAT: £0.58
Cost of Beer: £1.08
Contribution back to SU: £0.10
Other costs (Staff, sundries etc.): £1.74
Sundries include - Sky tv, cleaning materials, glassware, entertainment, posters and printing and licences.
IF YOU'RE A CHARITY WHY ARE YOU MAKING A £50,000 PROFIT?
We have to have enough cash in our accounts to be able to pay our creditors and our staff, particularly in the out of term periods. During the out of term periods some of our commercial services close and others may run at a loss, but we aim to keep them open to ensure those students who remain on campus over the summer break still have access to services, like The Store and the Geenhouse Café. Businesses can go under if they run out of cash. An organisation can make a profit, but still not have any cash as some costs are spread over a number of years.
The profits we make are held in our “reserves”, which is a bit like having a savings account that we can access when we have a dip in our commercial profits. These reserves were vital during the COVID-19 pandemic. These reserves can also be used to save up for an investment in a new project or service or to expand and existing service.
The Charity Commission (our regulator) requires that all charities hold sufficient reserves to ensure they can remain a going concern.
WHAT'S YOUR GENDER PAY GAP?
You can find our full report here.