Meet Andy Mathews, the creator of the latest and greatest addition to Durham University’s student life, the Purple Pass. The current Hild Bede Computer Science masters student brought us a little purple card, but it can do big things. The student discount card covers Durham’s best bars, cafes, restaurants, takeaways and hairdressers and what a delight to our purses! No longer do us stingy students have to go penniless. We caught up with Andy to find out more…
When did you come up with the Purple Pass idea and why?
I came up with the idea after having spent a few years in Durham already and witnessing a couple of different student deals cards come and go. Most of them have just offered queue jump at one or two bars in town, or discounts at a handful of cafes and restaurants. I thought it would be cool to try and create a discount card that was a lot bigger and covered most of the places Durham students spend their time and money at.
How long did it take to organise?
I started building the website and Facebook page early in September and sent out emails to lots of local businesses in Durham. A couple of weeks later I decided that if I was going to get the idea off the ground I needed to actually be in Durham, so I came up a couple of weeks before the start of term to visit the businesses in person that hadn’t replied to my emails. I spent a couple of weeks getting the businesses signed up, and then started designing the cards, roller banners and stickers to be used when selling the cards during Fresher’s Week. So I guess it took around a month altogether.
Was it easy to get places to co-operate or were there problems?
It started slowly, with a lot of businesses not replying to initial emails and others being busy when I went in to visit. I think turning up in person with a portfolio folder and explaining that their business would get lots of free promotion on the Purple Pass Facebook page, and showing them the website etc. helped convince a lot of them. Generally there weren’t really any problems, the vast majority of business owners in Durham are all really nice people and were keen to get involved.
How many have you sold?
Just over 1,000 so far. Around 700 of those were sold during Freshers’ Week and 300 have been sold online since I started selling on the website at the end of Freshers’ Week.
Are you working alone or with others?
I’ve been working alone on everything except for the sales – I got together a team of friends to help sell the cards to students outside the Freshers’ Fair and other popular events at the start of term. They earned commission on each card they sold, which worked out really well.
What are your plans for Purple Pass in the future?
It would be cool to expand to businesses in the Stockton area, and perhaps nationwide. Although I think one of the main strengths of Purple Pass is the fact its run by a student with a fairly good knowledge of which places students would like to see discounts at, so that would be a challenge when trying to get the card going in other university towns. Just adding more businesses in Durham is the challenge for this year, it would be great to get Klute involved!
What makes it different/better than the Monk cards?
As far as I’m aware the Monk card covers a few bars in town that run Monk events, and isn’t run by a current student at Durham. Purple Pass is a lot bigger in terms of the number of businesses involved, with over fifty so far, and the deals themselves cover a broader range than just clubs and bars – there’s restaurants, takeaways, cafes, hairdressers, beauty salons, retailers and even taxi companies involved in Purple Pass. Also, Purple Pass has a website and mobile-friendly site where students can check the deals out online, adding a level of credibility that I think is missing from other discount cards in Durham.
Where can we get hold of them?
You can buy your Purple Pass online today at www.purplepass.co.uk (and get free delivery!)