Lancaster University is set to open its doors to two new big name businesses, fast food giant Subway and bank Santander.
Rumours of the opening of the fast food chain Subway, which is now the single largest fast food chain in the world, have been circulating for a few months but it has now been officially confirmed by the University. The opening comes after Fred DeLuca president and founder of Subway – announced plans for expansion in the UK, aiming to open 600 new stores by 2015 creating 6000 new jobs. The franchise already compromises 1400 stores across the UK. The location and opening date of the new Subway on campus are due to be confirmed later in the year.
Santander is due to be opened early in Michaelmas term, replacing ‘LUSU involve’ on the spine which has in turn been relocated to the opposite side of Alexandra square, in-between the Learning Zone and University House. The branch will join banks Barclays and NatWest in having both an on campus and off campus branch within Lancaster. Lucy Johnson of Fylde expressed that “Santander coming to campus is great as students living on campus will not have to travel into town to go to their branch.”
The opening of both Subway and Santander have been met with largely positive responses from students, however the relocation of LUSU Involve has worried some who have participated in projects in the past. Student Liam Turner of County College said that “the move might result in less people getting involved with the volunteering projects because the new office isn’t as visible.” Other volunteers were less worried, agreeing that the move will be a positive one and that Involve will continue to grow.
Involve have welcomed the change stating on their website that the move means only “bigger and better things” for the volunteering centre. Involve have also said that the “move to the new building has been welcomed as everyone can be together in an office and it will mean we work better as an organisation and a whole.” When asked about the concerns of some students who have been involved in projects in the past Involve said that “there are so many ways you can interact with the students that the location of the office doesn’t really matter…involve will always be a friendly face at freshers fair and around campus so we expect students will still want to get involved with projects.”
