Could Lose Half a Million Due to Suspension of Liquor License

On Thursday the 20th of October, it became clear that Samfundet risks losing its liquor license for two weeks due to non-compliance with Norwegian liquor laws. Such a punishment would have significant consequences for the operation of the House, according to Dag Herrem from Samfundet’s Finance Board. A possible suspension of their liquor license would come in December at the earliest, but it would most likely occur in January or February.

“Closing during these months would create a nett loss of 300,000 to 500,000 Norwegian crowns. We would most likely have to cancel events and concerts. Concerts are automatically less attractive when alcohol is not present. The loss of profit could then be three times larger,” says Herrem.

The cafe and service student groups’ incomes will be approximately 16 million crowns in total, which corresponds to about 50 percent of the income of the House. Beer and alcohol sales are therefore the largest source of income. A possible loss could have consequences for next year’s economic situation.

“If half a million crowns of income disappear, we would, of course, need to cut costs. For example, we can delay certain maintenance projects or cut food costs. We cut the latter in 2009, but it wasn’t particularly popular,” says Herrem.

Overly Intoxicated

The non-compliance was observed the liquor control board’s unannounced visit to Samfundet on the 8th of October.

“Our agent was present at Samfundet and observed that an overly intoxicated woman was served alcohol,” tells legal advisor for Trondheim Municipality, Marte Bjørnsen.

According to law, the security guards should have shown the woman out. Samfundet last lost its liquor license in 2009. In this case, the non-compliance also occurred during the UKA Festival.

“The episode in 2009 happened when an overly drunk person attempted to buy beer in the concert venue, Dødens Dal. He was refused, but was able to get a friend to buy for him,” says Herrem.

However, the Student Society managed to avoid the worst possible losses.

“The case was not handled until summer, so the consequences were therefore less significant,” says Herrem.

A Classic Occurrence

The Municipality of Trondheim has sent a report to Samfundet and to the daily manager, Nora Røkaas Hermansen. It is still too early to know if the temporary restriction of the liquor license will or will not occur.

“It’s too early to say anything totally concrete, but this is a classic occurrence. Normally, this would mean a retraction of the liquor license,” says Bjørnsen.

Røkaas Hermansen is currently working to formulate Samfundet’s response to the municipality.

”Samfundet has a deadline of the first of November to give written statement to the Ownership Council. Our response is taken into consideration when they make their final decision,” says Røkaas Hermansen.

A total of seven establishments have lost their liquor license in Tronhdiem this year and Bjørnsen reports that non-compliance at Samfundet is just as serious.

”The violation at Samfundet is very similar to the ones we have seen earlier this year,” says Bjørnsen.

We Aren’t Robots

Herrem, head of the Finance Board, does not blame the student managers at the festival. In contrast, he believes that non-compliance is an effect of long work days with little food.

“This is most likely connected to an early start and long nights on an empty stomach.”

Røkaas Hermansen thinks that the situation is unfortunate, but says that it is particularly difficult to keep people under control during UKA. The number of times we are inspected and the number of visitors to Samfundet increase proportionately.

“Inspectors from  the Liquor Board are there more often during UKA and there were 2,200 people at Samfundet that day. This kind of thing can easily happen; we’re not robots,” she says.