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.