Upload
others
View
1
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
LSE Residential & Catering Services
LSE Residential and Catering Services Division
Our principal aim is to provide a first class service offering affordable accommodation and
catering, within a sound financial framework, to support and enhance the learning goals of
students.
We offer students the flexibility of 31 and 38 week contracts and rent our empty bedrooms
to commercial guests during the vacation periods. We also have conference space and a
small number of bedrooms available to the public all year round. This activity allows LSE to
keep student rents at an affordable level and house them in central London locations such
as Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square.
Strategy and Results
Since 2006/07, Residential Services has operated on a “sustainably self-financing” basis.
The Division has produced a financial surplus from commercial lettings to support the
provision of a mix of affordable accommodation, while at the same time investing materially
in the maintenance of the halls, supporting our new Accommodation Bursary scheme
(£0.4m p.a.) and compensating the School for capital invested.
All LSE managed halls are located within Zone 1, close to Underground stations and within
walking distance to many major attractions, so LSE Vacations offers a great alternative to
central London hotels.
Our commercial business is divided into six market segments:
• Faculty Accommodation: LSE staff, visiting academics, researchers, speakers.
• Student Vacations: LSE term students outside of term time
• Summer School: LSE Summer school students, Summer School teachers (~ 4,500
bookings p.a)
• Educational Groups: students or any category entitled to VAT exempt rates
• Commercial Groups: all types of guests (Leisure/Corporate) booking 10 or more
rooms.
• Commercial Individual: individual commercial, staff/ students on vacation
We offer a range of room types including bedrooms with shared facilities, studios, single
and double en-suite rooms, cluster flats, family rooms and apartments. Our halls offer a
variety of packages from Room only to Bed & Breakfast and some evening meals during
Summer School.
• Commercial Lettings income has increased steadily over the last 5 years from 34% to
38% of total income and is on track to be 39% this year.
• LSE currently has ten halls and a small number of bedrooms on Campus, totalling in
excess of 3000 beds, rising to 4,700 with the inclusion of nomination agreements for
student places.
• LSE Vacations are the largest provider of student bed spaces in London outside of
term time, with 3,000 bed nights available during the summer and 400 bedrooms on
sale over Christmas and Easter.
This business is managed by the LSE Vacations Reservations Team, who contribute to the
growth of the accommodation business, maximising occupancy and revenue, while
providing a high standard of Customer Service in their interactions with guests. We have
dedicated team members looking after group business, Summer School bookings and
individual reservations and the team is composed of three full-time staff and a pool of part-
time LSE students, gaining valuable work experience.
• LSE Catering teams can provide meals for all our group business at the halls or on
Campus, catering for every dietary requirement, including Kosher, Halal, vegan, etc.
• There are eight outlets operating on Campus offering a variety of products and
services from grab and go café’s to sit-down hot meals. Three outlets; LSE Garrick,
Café 54 and brand new vegetarian/vegan outlet, the ‘Shaw Café’, are open to the
public.
• LSE Catering also works with the LSE Events team to provide Hospitality both
internally and to support our £0.5m external Conference business, which ranges
from room hire to social clubs to large academic conferences.
Communication
• LSE Vacations produces a monthly newsletter, circulated to around 3000 subscribers,
to inform customers of opening dates, offers and any information regarding our
halls.
• We use downloadable e-brochures for LSE Vacations and Faculty Accommodation
and for meeting spaces at Rosebery Hall and Bankside House.
• Our social media also has an important role in interacting with our guests and
customers. Currently, we operate accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Technology and Innovation
• Our dedicated website www.lsevacations.co.uk, is a ‘direct’ channel, which provides
easy access to information and a smooth booking process. We also sell our products
and services through various ‘indirect’ channels, when bookings are made through
agents on a commission basis. Customer satisfaction is linked to expectations so we
always present realistic images and clear descriptions of our accommodation.
• We work with a web-based Property Management System (PMS) and integrated
Channel manager (CM) to efficiently manage our bedroom inventory. The PMS helps
with multiple aspects of property management such as reservations, check-in and
check-out, allocations, group blocks, etc. The CM allows us to update availability and
rates on multiple channels at once. This technology ensures a secure, seamless
booking process for our customers.
• Another development this year is the creation of a new loyalty app ‘LSE Food club’
which has recently gone live.
Sustainability and Wellbeing
• A highly successful initiative from LSE Catering has been offering inclusive meals in
four Undergraduate Halls. We piloted this in one hall and identified that students’
whole experience was enhanced. Learning from this we gradually rolled this out to
three further halls. Since then the dining rooms are full at meal times and this has
had a positive impact on student welfare, providing a sense of belonging and
community feeling, whilst also making better use of social spaces and improving
value for money.
• We recognise our responsibility to provide healthy and sustainable food to our
students and in 2018 our four catered halls progressed from Bronze Food for Life
award to the Silver award, achieving the highest possible rating of three stars from
the nationally accredited Sustainable Restaurant Association.
• The 2018 Residences’ Annual Student Satisfaction Survey was completed by 2,233
students (53% response rate). In LSE managed halls, 93% said they were enjoying
their stay, 90% across all halls. Perceptions of Value for Money rose to 80% across
all halls (86% in LSE managed halls).
• In terms of Catering, out of 847 people 84% said the restaurant made it possible for
them to socialise and 81% said eating together enhanced the feeling of community
in their hall.