Feeding the next generation at SRC
Southern Regional College (SRC) is the largest College of Further and Higher Education outside Belfast, with campuses serving the Armagh, Banbridge, Craigavon and Newry & Mourne district council areas. Southern Regional College provides a wide range of education and training courses to a student population comprising approximately 40,000 part-time and full-time enrolments. It employs approximately 1,100 staff in the Armagh, Banbridge, Kilkeel, Lurgan, Newry and Portadown campuses. During a typically busy period this translates into a daily footfall estimated in the region of 4,475 people.
Mount Charles provides catering services to 8 sites:
Armagh (x2 sites)
Newry (x4 sites)
Banbridge
Portadown
Catering Services
The services are provided Monday – Friday term time with a reduced service during holiday periods. Specific education brands have been designed and developed for the College provided across all campuses.
More recently, the new £35million 14,000 square-metre landmark campus in Armagh and the new 4,500 square-metre £15 million campus in Banbridge, was an opportunity to introduce new food and beverage offerings including the installation of Urban Square Food Co restaurants on both campuses, designed to create vibrant spaces where students can meet and collaborate.
A menu for all tastes
At SRC we provide a range of cuisines emphasising fresh and healthy raw ingredients and salads, as well as local and global trends such as burritos, mezze, sushi, Asian and Indian. We also have a sustainably sourced coffee offering as well as innovative beverages. All the food and drink offerings provide value for money, without compromising on quality and allowing flexibility to make periodic changes to adapt to seasonal produce and customer demand. We have developed distinctive brands as described below:
Based on the student profiles and their requirements, we introduced and invested in our U:EAT brand to the SRC sites. Our U:EAT brand has been handcrafted by Mount Charles specifically for the Education Sector and gives each dining area an identity which in turn has attracted more students / staff and driven sales. U:EAT is a new style Urban eatery. U choose, U meet, U relax: it’s all about U! As an umbrella brand, it brings a consistency and new approach to every dining area but also understands that different people want different things. Not only is service fast and fun, focusing on fresh ingredients and global flavours, it’s also about choice and interaction with our teams. Different global flavours are reflected throughout the week and traditional favourites are given a new “fast casual” twist.
