LeSoCo identity dropped by Lewisham Southwark College

The LeSoCo brand was prompted by the merging of London’s Lewisham and Southwark Colleges, which turned to Elmwood to name and create an identity for the newly formed institution. 

Now a Freedom of Information has revealed that the college would like to drop LeSoCo, a name which it says is seen as “ambiguous and not recognisable as a college”.

The FOI statement also revealed: “Having discussed the name with students at the end of the last academic year, they said that they did not identify with LeSoCo.  Therefore, in terms of marketing the College, we are using the extended name and a decision will be made by Governors as to whether to formally request that the name be formally changed to Lewisham Southwark College.”

The college says that the extended name has been designed in-house and will be used on all new material.

It seems that the college has already begun to make changes as new signage has already gone up, which keeps the “L” device with its upturned corner but now reads “Lewisham Southwark College.” Meanwhile the website has made the same change.

There are no plans to change the website domain address or staff email addresses at present according to the college.

Elmwood says: “Projects of this nature are often highly emotive, with many stakeholders having many views. At the time, the two colleges were merging with many sensitivities about their separate histories and their merged future together.

“A large number of stakeholders were engaged in the project – including college principals, a representative of the Mayor’s Office and the local Borough. The student population in particular was engaged in the naming process. As time passes stakeholders and priorities change, views change too – and that seems to be the case here.”