‘Running a club night at a low-mid capacity while keeping the line-up exciting is becoming almost unachievable’
With young people ditching booze and turning to more cost-effective recreational habits such as videogames and psychedelics, messy nights out on the town – once a staple of British culture – are on the brink of extinction. According to the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), we’re losing one club every two days at the moment, which means there will be no clubs left by 2030 if we carry on this trajectory.
“The closure of nightclubs transcends mere economic repercussions; it represents a cultural crisis endangering the vibrancy and diversity of our nightlife. Nightclubs serve as vital hubs of social interaction, artistic expression, and community cohesion, making their preservation imperative,” the NTIA said of the findings.
“The NTIA demands that the government takes immediate action to provide financial relief to struggling nightclubs. Central to this relief is the imperative for the government to reduce VAT to 12.5 per cent across the board, failing which further closures across the sector are inevitable,” it continues.
It’s no secret that life under the Tories is getting increasingly miserable for young people – rent prices are so high that 40 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds are living at home with their parents, while support for the Conservatives is nosediving for under-24s. Young people are also ditching drinking to cut some costs, with dry dating on the rise. As it turns out, all those £6 pints at the pub aren’t all that friendly on the bank balance, let alone the hungover Deliveroo order the next morning.
The NTIA report follows earlier claims made back in March 2023, when the association accused the UK government of “intentionally” closing down nightclubs and venues across the country, as it saw the nightlife sector as “a burden on policing and local government”.
“Environments and infrastructure shape music in often subtle, imperceptible ways,” says David Zhou, the founder of London night, Eastern Margins. “With Eastern Margins, we are always fighting a battle against the scarcity of venues and spaces available, and that constricts the ideas that we can implement. Whilst we’re still incredibly privileged in the UK with the access to infrastructure we have, the direction of travel is increasingly dark. The closure of venues will inevitably lead to more conformity, as promoters are forced to fit into existing structures.”
There’s an increased pressure on venues to sell-out nights, which often results in promoters feeling pressured to book the same established acts over again instead of platforming up-and-coming artists. “Everything’s getting expensive. The booking agent’s percentages are rising, travel costs have gone up, affordable hotels are now unaffordable and Brexit means we have added working visas to pay,” agrees Luke Faulkner, who runs London night Planet Fun. “Running a club night at a low-mid capacity while keeping the line-up exciting is becoming almost unachievable and I think people who are operating on smaller scales are throwing in the towel.”
“For sizable venues, they are now putting their trust into bigger, trusted promoters to guarantee a full club every weekend which is pushing away smaller event organisers,” he adds. “The overheads for smaller clubs are just becoming way too high, it deters the grassroots events from hosting parties and sadly we’re seeing those venues close.”