The University restructuring of catering facilities means that the Fraser Building will no longer be operating its cafeteria.
Following rumours posted on the popular Facebook “confessions” page, GlasKnow, that the Fraser Building cafeteria was to shut permanently, a University of Glasgow spokesperson has confirmed to The Glasgow Guardian that this is the case.
The closure of the Food for Thought cafeteria in the Fraser Building is not standalone: 1A The Square Brasserie is also now closed, as is the Wolfson Link Cafe between the James Black and the Davidson building.
Discussing the closure of the popular cafeteria, the University spokesperson commented: “We want to ensure that our University catering operation provides good value and quality, whilst being convenient and meeting the changing needs of staff and students as we move out of the pandemic. To remain competitive with other outlets close to our campus, we have undertaken a thorough review of our catering operations and concluded it will not be viable to reopen a small number of consistently loss-making outlets on the Gilmorehill campus.”
Three new catering outlets have been established in the James McCune Smith Learning Hub on University Avenue instead, and the new study hub will have its own independent catering operations. The University has commenced a fully-owned subsidiary company, UofG Commercial Ltd, which Unite the Union says is solely profit-driven, which will control new catering facilities. The University has stated that it “[has] ambitions to grow jobs and opportunities as new buildings open on the former Western Infirmary site.” The University spokesperson also stated: “The changes have been delivered with no compulsory redundancies in the catering team.” However, according to Unite the Union, many have opted for voluntary release due to a loss of earnings following the catering system restructure.
GlasKnow’s post was swamped with just under 300 likes on Facebook, alongside a myriad of comments that reminisced on the character and atmosphere of the Food for Thought cafeteria. The Food to Go outlet will remain, however; as will the Starbucks cafe bar near 1A The Square Brasserie.
