Bars, events and entertainments 

Although the Students' Union might appear to be one large building occupied by one large company, the Union is actually run by three separate companies:

• The UPSU Charity - of which the Sabbs are the trustees - exists to represent, promote and defend the rights of students, and to enhance the student experience,
• UPEL - the University of Portsmouth Enterprise Ltd. - is the University's subsidiary company which handles the operation of bars and entertainments. This company is run entirely separately from the UPSU, and reports directly to the University.
• The University of Portsmouth owns and maintains the Union's buildings, and have recently acquired the Union's catering facilities.

What does this mean?

In practise, this means that Sabbatical officers, while well-placed to communicate the needs and wishes of the student body on relevant matters to the companies which run bars, entertainments and catering at the Union, have no direct say over how these businesses are run.

However, this does not mean that UPSU can't run its own events; UPSU and UPEL collaborate on a daily basis to organise events of all sizes run by and for students through societies and clubs, with the 2008 Societies Takeover being one primary example.

Other UPSU-run events include the Freshers' and Refreshers' Fayres, and the Freshers', Christmas and Graduation Balls.

More info

• Find out more about the difference between UPSU and UPEL