An update from the Students' Union about the Starbucks Big Idea.

What Happened? 

A Big Idea was submitted to the Students’ Union, open to all members to view and comment on, requesting that the Students’ Union cease offering Starbucks in our outlets and “replace with an ethical coffee company." Following a show of support from the student body (Big Ideas need to receive at least 50 'votes' on the platform to progress, with students able to vote yes or no to an idea), the Big Idea proceeded to the next stage and was discussed at the recent Students’ Council meeting.  

During the meeting, a thoughtful debate took place between members of Council, with the focus of discussion being the perceived poor ethical standards of Starbucks. Like all debates at Students’ Council, we ensure these are facilitated to make sure debates are appropriate and safe for participants and the wider student body. Topics discussed included labour practices, supply chain issues, environmental impact, tax avoidance and their stance on the Palestine / Israel humanitarian crisis. A balanced debate took place with all viewpoints being shared, heard and information and education offered where needed. After careful consideration of all viewpoints, Students’ Council ultimately voted to pass the motion. 

What Happens Now? 

This vote results in the idea being passed as Students’ Union policy for 3 years. All our policies passed by Students’ Council are logged in our policies document on our website.  However, as with all Students’ Council policies passed  – no action will be taken until it has been reviewed by our Board of Trustees. The purpose of our Students’ Council is to ensure we hear the student voice on issues and topics that are affecting our members, the purpose of our Board of Trustees is to ensure we are abiding by our legal boundaries as a registered charity and representative body for all students at UCLan. When the Trustee Board discuss this policy, they will only consider any legal or financial challenges that could arise from acting on this idea. 

Our Trustees will be meeting week commencing 20th May and we will share a statement from our Board shortly after on this idea which will explain the next steps for this motion. 

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