We asked Exeter’s local legends whether they miss us

‘We’re waiting desperately for you to come back’


It’s that time of year again when Exeter must ready itself for the inevitable student deluge. Locals are readying themselves to once again jostle for space amongst the almost 20,000 of us who attend the university. But are we really their guilty pleasure/the lifeblood of their businesses?

Philip Saunders, 42, Saunders Newsagents

“We do support local trade and that is important to us, but 80 per cent of our trade comes from the students here, especially given our location. They make a huge difference to us”.

Chris, 24, Co-op

“It was nice to have a bit of a respite over summer and get the store all in order but eventually you do miss them, and especially a lot of the sales they bring with them.

“Now that they’re back it will be very interesting over the next few months.

“I won’t be bored anymore.”

Ellis Woods, 24, Domino’s

“Yes sales-wise we definitely missed the students.

“It’s a huge part of our sales. Late nights are really good for us so it will be good to have them back so everyone can get more hours again.”

Carrie Phillips, 27, The Firehouse

Yeah it’ll get much busier so it always gives us something to do.

“It’s a little bit more lively when they’re around. We get a lot of the socials coming in.”

Melissa Peters, 38, The King Billy

“They don’t really affect us as a business because we don’t really get a lot of them in here to be fair.

“I think from what I gather they think it’s a gay bar, and occasionally there is a fight in here.”

Lisa Frost, 45, Mount Pleasant Road resident

 

Yeah I’m looking forward to them coming back, it makes it a lot more lively around here obviously because all of the houses behind me are student accommodation.

“We’ve got a few students that live her as well, one from China and another from Germany.

“They never cause any trouble. They can be a bit raucous but that’s what you expect at the end of the day.”