#night-time-economy

#night-time-economy

Later hours don't automatically mean better margins. The proposed liberalisation of the UK's licensing laws has been billed as a win for growth, but for operators, it's a high-risk balancing act. Extending trading hours without re-engineering labour models, sales forecasting, and team scheduling can quickly turn a 'boost' into a cost sink. Stretching staff hours on low sales volumes doesn't build growth. It can erode it. The trends have changed over recent years and already seen many pubs close doors earlier due to low footfall.

There's a general consensus, amongst the generations that are old enough to remember going out in the pre-social media age at least, that nightlife in London is not what it once was. The statistics certainly don't paint a particularly positive picture. In the Mayor of London's 2019 Cultural Infrastructure Plan it was reported that in the last decade, 35% of grassroots venues and 61% of LGBTQ+ venues in London closed.

Figures from the Night Time Economy Market Monitor, produced with CGA by NIQ, show that post-COVID closures are leaving communities without places to socialise after dark, threatening local culture, jobs, and the wider evening economy. "This is not just a hospitality issue - it's a cultural crisis," said Michael Kill, CEO of the NTIA. "Nightclubs and late-night venues are cultural institutions, economic engines, and cornerstones of community life. Losing them removes vital social and cultural spaces from our towns and cities."

Rising energy, labour, and supply costs, coupled with higher taxation, continue to erode margins for businesses in the night-time economy.