Whatchu been sayin’ about the Ram?

The Tab investigates how the Ram is faring under new management.

| UPDATED Celia Richardson exeter tab Francesca Platt news ram students' guild the tab exeter University of Exeter Vox Pop

Pricey food, broken televisions, a defensive manager and a mob of eager customers. The Tab investigates how the Ram is faring under new management.

One of the main issues raised in our survey was the price increase of meals from September this year. Many students felt that these changes were fairly unnoticeable, and that the cost of food was still reasonable despite the increase.

Rebekah Cunningham, a second-year English undergraduate, said: “It’s not terrible, I mean it’s still very reasonable for the price. It doesn’t affect where I eat because I know I like the food here.”

However, Edward Stanford-Clark, a languages student, disagreed: “Some of their meals seem to be [reasonable], but three or four quid for a sandwich seems a bit…profiteering.”

Additionally, Bonnie Stephensmith, a regular baked potato eater, said: “The price shouldn’t have been put up so much, it’s just a baked potato. It’s gone up almost a pound!”

Manager Jen Cackett defended the accusations against her supposedly pricey sandwiches. She said: “The quality of our produce is much better now. We use more expensive bread and chips are included with the sandwiches now. In my opinion I think they are really good value for money.”

Emily Pickthall, an ex-employee and second-year student, said: “They probably have good intentions for raising the price”, as they have been improving both the quality of food and training of kitchen staff.

Customers were also keen to discuss the range of food on offer, with many disregarding it as standard ‘pub grub’.

Natalie Cox, a third-year undergraduate student, said there was not really any healthy food on offer: “There’s not many healthy options. I normally go round the corner and buy a wrap instead. More variety in that area would be good.”

Although there were teething problems at the beginning of the year regarding waiting times, with some students saying they ended up late for seminars waiting for food, many students now feel that the waiting times had improved since last year. When The Tab spoke to the Ram’s manager, she enlightened us as to why: “This year, management has changed. Last year it was a completely new set-up and we were kind of getting used to it ourselves. Business has now settled down and we know customers better.”

The Tab also uncovered that there has lately been issues with SubTV, the company contracted to broadcast in the Ram. Cackett told us that there have been constant technical difficulties with the six flat-screens throughout the pub, meaning that they are all out of use at the moment. The Ram’s management has in the last few days been in discussions with XTV about a potential new contract.

Despite broken televisions and price increases, the changes in the Ram seem on the whole to have been received positively. The new management team have been successful so far, however customers have highlighted what else can be done to improve the University’s finest watering-hole.