FOCUS FEATURE
THE NIGHT-TIME ECONOMY
Open all hours…
It’s worth billions of pounds yet its reputation is not always a positive one. Business Network Editor Nathan Fearn looks at the good, the bad and the ugly side of the night-time economy and discusses whether it deserves the bad press it sometimes receives.
The night-time economy (NTE) can mean very different things to different people. For the consumers, it’s a couple going to the opera or a group of friends letting their hair down in a nightclub; it’s a trip to a fast food joint or a visit to a new, swanky Michelin-star restaurant; it’s a small literary gathering or a 20,000 sell-out comedy night at a city’s main arena. For the workers, it’s the be-all-and-end-all for the bar managers, theatre directors and restaurant owners that rely so heavily on night-time trade. It’s also the bar staff, casual shift workers and part-time pub singers that use the night- time scene to top up income or help see them through the latest semester at university. In its Night Vision: Town Centres For All report, The Civic
Trust - an independent, national, umbrella body for over 800 civic societies – defines the night-time economy as an industry that “covers a wide range of activity in town and city centres, including; pubs and bars, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, events, retail and more, which combine to create a centre offer ‘after dark’, manifesting an economy that has its own unique qualities and is distinct from the daytime”. While in no way a new concept, the night-time economy
was first formally analysed in 2010 by TBR, an economic research consultancy, which determined that the industry was then worth around £66bn, employing 1.3 million people. Terry Bevan, the director at TBR responsible for the report, has more recently suggested that economic contribution is now worth £70bn, representing about four per cent of Britain’s economic output. Yet for something so diverse, the night-time economy is
often characterised negatively as an industry. While there’s no denying that it is big business, it’s seen as a necessary evil for some; something that contributes disproportionately to issues of anti-social behaviour ranging from litter dropping to large scale criminal damage and from minor disturbances to significant altercations requiring the intervention of the emergency services. The NTE contributes significantly to the UK economically.
Yet in some quarters, the cost of policing it starts eroding its plus points and public confidence. For something so diverse and important, it seems that the night-time economy gets stereotyped in an altogether
34 business network June 2017
The NTE has its own unique qualities and covers a wide range of activities
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