Meet the bouncers: They’re humans too

How did you get into this line of work?

I trained in the SIA, and have been registered for 17 years.

What do you most enjoy about the job?

Timepiece is a family business and all of our employers are part of a much bigger family too. I love seeing the students having a good time and getting to know some of them personally – a lot of kids come here regularly. Also, we have so many past students coming in, adults who used to come here in the 80s always come back to see how TP has changed!

We have a duty of care to the students. Not many people know that we take students home ourselves too. If someone is too drunk, often Estate Patrol the university services, don’t take them so our team will always take people home if they have no means of getting home or are too drunk to help themselves. We really look after the students, they’re so important to our nightclub.

We love George

What do you think of Exeter students on the whole?

Well all I can say is in 22 years of running this place, the dancing hasn’t changed much. Generally, they are always really nice and polite but sometimes you have to deal with situations that can get out of hand. There’s always a great buzz at TP, especially on a Wednesday and Friday where there are mostly students.

What’s the worst/weirdest thing you’ve ever seen?

One girl came in to ask for some bar work,  and later in the night she was so drunk she didn’t know where she was. Some societies are more boisterous than others too. One time a big strapping lad was in fancy-dress (as a woman) and was drunk he ended up falling over and splitting his head open.

We took him to A&E and he wouldn’t stop singing – it was so embarrassing and he nearly got kicked out. After his head was stapled he was still so drunk he couldn’t remember where he lived, after much wasted time it turned out that he lived next to the hospital.

Is there a particular group of students who are a nuisance?

Yeah, on the whole Exeter students are well behaved but of course the sports societies can be a bit of a handful. There are so many rivalries between different clubs, with alcohol on top of that they can be a big problem.

Who’s worse, boys or girls?

Definitely boys, especially the AU members.

Can you tell the difference between students and locals?

Yes 99.9% of the time I can tell.

What would you say to the students reading this article?

Come to Timepiece, have a great time but don’t drink too much! A lot of people don’t realise all the work that we do with the AU, a lot of the money that we get from a Wednesday night goes straight back to the university and the Athletic Union. We give tens of thousands back to the students so they can keep coming back to this place and having a great time.