Newcastle University’s student union bar, Luther’s, has recently been rebranded into a Wetherspoons pub after struggling to gain enough customers.
Before the rebrand, Luther’s was left empty almost every day, with pints waiting to be drunk but never making it out the kegs. Kate Roebuck, Newcastle student union’s operations co-ordinator who has worked at the union for over 4 years, said: “Covid killed the trade that we did have”.
She added: “when people came back after Covid, people didn’t know that we were still a bar, and so it got quieter and quieter after that”.
As the income began to dwindle after the Coronavirus took its toll on the bar like it did to many other businesses, prospects looked bleak for Luther’s. The student union’s staff tried many different methods to keep the bar afloat, such as creating social media accounts to try and advertise the place online and make some noise. However, these methods simply weren’t working.
Roebuck said “long-term potentially” there was a possibility that the bar could’ve closed down. But, in an unusual turn of events, Luther’s was given the chance to become part of the Wetherspoons franchise and rebrand their entire image.
Wetherspoons is one of the most popular pub chains in the UK, due to their extremely low prices for drinks and food in comparison to most other pubs in the Britain. One student claimed that the original student union’s drink prices were “too expensive”, which is definitely one way of deterring a student crowd from visiting a bar.
Therefore, it seems like Luther’s and Wetherspoons were bound to kickstart a partnership, as one pub was down and out whilst the other was looking to expand its ever-growing empire.
The new Luther’s identity saw a complete refurbishment of the bar space, with a brand-new kitchen as well as the sleek looking bar set up and iconic Spoons wooden tables.
Current Luther’s staff member and Newcastle University student, Rohan Chettiar, has been working at the newly rebranded bar since it first opened on the 15th September 2023.
When asked whether he thinks the rebrand was needed he said: “oh yes definitely, because in my first year it was always pretty empty”. He added: “Making it a Spoons has made it more accessible” which ultimately is the aim of any business in the hospitality industry.
This idea of accessibility was shown with the bar’s Instagram account receiving over 800 likes with the announcement of the partnership, which is double the amount of their current followers. It’s safe to say that there was a lot of hype and intrigue at the prospect of a Wetherspoons being located in a student’s union, as it has only been done once before in Hull University’s Student Union (HUSU) which opened in 2022.
However, was it a success or a failed experiment? In response to the question of whether they thought it was a triumphant transition, Roebuck said: “Yeah I do” and further added: “we’ve got the student audience and the older audience” which is remarkable considering they were struggling to find any customers before the rebrand.
It was reported that over 70 jobs would be created from this that would also be suitable for students. Rohan Chettiar added: “only a few people could work there last year as they couldn’t do much because there weren’t really any customers, and now the number of staff employed is comparatively a lot”. In this current cost of living crisis, it must be motivating for students to have the option of gaining a flexible job through their university, who’ll understand that they’re not always available to work.
But now the question you’ve all been waiting for, what’s it like on a matchday? Luther’s only has licensing for TNT sports on their TV’s, which means that they’re able to show Champions League games but not Premier league. However, that doesn’t stop the ‘Toon Army’ from invading on a Champions league night, as Chettiar said that game days are “intense”, which definitely showed as one till made around “£7500” after the first game against PSG.
The rebrand has also benefitted other aspects of Newcastle’s student union, such as the ticket demand for gigs. The nicheness of having a Wetherspoons on top of the music venue is a combination that not many would be able to refuse. Roebuck added “we now get pre-gig traffic” which wasn’t a common occurrence before the partnership.
Overall, Luther’s student union seems to have welcomed the Wetherspoons franchise with open arms, due to them being on the brink of collapse before Tim Martin’s company came swooping in. The bar is bustling almost every day and staff couldn’t be happier about it, so it seems to have been a huge success.
Interviews with Kate Roebuck and Rohan Chettiar.
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