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Third of UK nightclubs shut down in 2022

A third of nightclubs in the UK shut for good in 2022, as a trade body warns the sector is ‘suffering heavily’.

Nightclubs-UK-Rekom
NTIA has warned the immediate issues facing nightclubs are not being addressed by the UK government

The figures come from the Hospitality Market Monitor by Alix Partners and CGA Powered by Nielsen, shared by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), which suggested one-third of clubs could close due to inflation in November.

Michael Kill, CEO of the NTIA, said: “It shows a clear contraction in the independent operating sector of -13.3%, 10% greater than managed businesses seeing a drop of -3.6% towards the end of 2022.

“More than 13,000 businesses [have been] lost over the course of the last three years, 4,800 businesses in 2022, with over three-quarters of these closures occurring in the second half of the year.

“Nightclubs being one of the greatest impacted by cost inflation, with a 6% drop in the fourth quarter of this year, and now a third smaller than it was before the pandemic, reflecting disproportionate support and [a] challenging trading environment.”

Kill added that for every one new venue that opens, three have closed over the last three years “solely down to pandemic, cost inflation and the current industrial action challenges”.

Train strikes over the last six months of 2022 cost the UK hospitality industry £2.5 billion (US$2.9bn) in sales, according to UK Hospitality.

“The acceptance by the government that businesses will be lost through this crisis takes no account of the people reliant on this sector,” Kill added. “The sector is suffering heavily, and needs financial headroom to recover.

“The rhetoric of long-term growth and investment strategy is not addressing the immediate issues faced by the businesses.

“The government must consider additional financial support for the sector, readdressing the energy relief scheme and reducing VAT for 12 months as part of the announcement in the March budget.”

Last year, SB looked in depth at how nightclubs were recovering in party destinations, such as Ibiza and Mykonos.

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