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peared, and socialising has become more occasion-led because resources are limited. Saturdays continue to be pretty good, but the rest of the week is under real pressure.” Kill agreed that the midweek student market had “collapsed”. “There have been a couple


of cities and towns I’ve been in recently where on a Thursday night, when you would expect to see a good few thousand peo- ple in town, there’s less than 200 people across the span of pubs and bars,” he said. Sacha Lord, night time econ-


omy adviser for Greater Man- chester, said the behaviour of young consumers had shifted since the pandemic and many had become used to socialis- ing via screens rather than in late-night venues. He also pointed to a reduction in alco- hol consumption among 18- to 24-year-olds, with a 2023 You- Gov survey commissioned by the Portman Group suggesting that 39% abstain completely. Lord, who is behind Manches-


ter’s Warehouse Project club nights and the Parklife festival, said casual nights out had been killed off by the cost of living crisis, with people increasingly prioritising big-ticket events instead. He is concerned that the closure of grassroots ven- ues, including pubs hosting live music nights, will have a nega- tive impact on wider UK culture. “People come to Parklife and


they’ll see Stormzy or Doja Cat, who we have this year, on the stage – those people don’t just wake up one morning and they’re pop stars, they come through the grassroots venues,” said Lord. “You take away the grass- roots venues, which are clos-


Rekom’s Pryzm nightclub in Nottingham, which closed in February, one of 17 nightclubs that closed


“It somewhat feels like the government is systematically closing down dance floors and night life” Michael Kill, Night Time Industries Association


ing, and the bigger festivals will stagnate. My argument has always been that you should support the grassroots venues a lot more than the bigger ven- ues, because that is where the new blood comes through.” Pitcher is hopeful that the increase in the National Living Wage in April will make a dif- ference to young people’s dis- posable incomes but he, along with Lord and Kill, stressed the need for government support. Marks said rising costs had


Sacha Lord. Inset: Michael Kill www.thecaterer.com


made Rekom’s business unvi- able and lamented the lack of support in last year’s Autumn Statement: “[While] the govern- ment’s Autumn 2023 Statement saved us £120,000 on our £5m rates bill, it meant we had to find an extra £2m in wages,” said Marks. “Not only that, the cost of


goods and energy have also seen inflation-busting rises.” For Kill, the lack of sup-


port from government at both a national and local level has become endemic. He said: “It somewhat feels like the government is systematically closing down dance floors and night life.” Kill said the late-night sector


had been damaged by a myriad of factors, including rising energy bills, an increase in alcohol duties, staff- ing shortages, price increases across the board, the implementation of late-night lev- ies, increases to the National Living Wage, the impact of Dry January and the vili- fication of the industry in com- mentary around issues such as spiking. He added: “Only so much


can be thrown at people before the industry starts to creak. And the industry is creaking and suffering greatly.” The NTIA chair said night-


clubs had also suffered by not receiving the same level of support given to the wider hospitality industry during the pandemic. He added: “The scalability of support was not proportionate to the cost of oper- ating, so many of those busi-


nesses, both independent and corporate, had to raise funds or take credit or loans. Those loans are now being paid off with the backdrop of a 30%-40% increase in operating costs.” Pitcher said the 10pm cur-


few implemented during the pandemic had hit the late-night sector more acutely, while the temporary VAT reduction, which was not extended to the sale of alcoholic drinks, failed to provide the boost it did to food-led operators. Ahead of the Spring


Budget on 6 March he has called for a 12-month reduc- tion in VAT to at least 12%, includ- ing drink sales, and a reassessment of busi- ness rates. Pitcher wants


to see an extension of the 75% rates discount for eligible busi- nesses, which is due to end in April, beyond its current cap of £110,000 per company. If support is not forthcom-


ing, Lord is clear what the future will hold: “If nothing comes to help, we will see clo- sures off the scale. If there’s no help, there will be closures in the next two weeks. I know many people are crossing their fingers that we get a VAT reduc- tion and if we don’t, they are going to close. It’s going to be really hard.”


8 March 2024 | The Caterer | 11


KIEV.VICTOR/SHUTTERSTOCK


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