Bar shuts as Dundee students shun booze for coffee breaks

The shock news comes as research shows the number of teenagers enjoying a tipple is plummeting. Some health-conscious students are even demanding alcohol-free parties in order to avoid hangovers. Many students now prefer afternoon lunch and coffees to the traditional cut-price pints and shots. Now, bosses at Abertay University in Dundee have taken the decision to close their bar.

Takings at the union’s Bar One are said to have slumped by two-thirds in the last five years. So a decision has been taken to ditch the venue from the start of the academic year.

As a result, Bar One will now act only as a bookable events space. An Abertay spokesman said: “We recognise that student tastes have shifted away from a bar setting and towards a daytime café culture. 

“Just last year, we opened a new Library Café as part of the £5million refurbishment of the Bernard King Library, which has been a success with both students and staff. In contrast, sales income in Bar One has dropped by two-thirds in the last five years and from September we will no longer offer food or drink provision in this area.”

Last year, a survey by the National Union of Students (NUS) revealed one in five UK students is teetotal.

Official health data shows a third of all 16 to 24-year-olds in 2015 said they did not drink, compared with around one in five in 2005.

Dundee University Students Association (DUSA) says its union,  regularly named among the UK’s best, has also tailored its offering due to falling alcohol consumption.

Hannah Adams, vice-president of communications and campaigns at DUSA, said: “A shift in student culture and demographics in recent years has led to falling alcohol sales at student unions across the country. DUSA has changed its provision to ensure we cater for all students, whether they drink or not.”

Goldsmiths University in London has banned beef from its campus as part of the fight against climate change.