London’s nightlife industry has warned that strict licensing laws, problems with crime, and eye-watering costs are pushing venues to the brink.
In public meetings at City Hall this week, industry representatives have urged the mayor and the new Government to give the sector more support.
It comes after data revealed that London suffered a net loss of around 40 pubs in the year to March 2023, despite the number of pub employees growing.
Mayor Sadiq Khan admitted last week that there are “challenges post-pandemic for all global cities” but argued that London is “ahead of that crowd”, adding that this summer had so far been “remarkable” for the capital’s night economy.
But at a cross-party inquiry into the topic, led by the London Assembly on Wednesday, experts in the sector said businesses were grappling with a formidable host of issues, which have made it far harder for many to turn a profit.
Mark Williams, deputy chief executive of the Heart of London Business Alliance, told assembly members: “The West End’s evening and night-time economy is underperforming, post-pandemic. Growth lines dictated that it should be at about £15.5bn. It’s currently sitting at around £14bn.
“Footfall has stagnated. Spend has increased, but behind that picture, we’re dealing with high living costs, supply disruption, high operating costs, staff shortages, overcrowding on streets and with an ineffective public realm, limited step-free access to stations, an increase in anti-social behaviour and a lack of facilities.”
Further concerns were heard on Thursday, when Emma Best, deputy leader of City Hall Conservatives, hosted her own roundtable discussion with industry figures.
Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, told the session that crime was part of the problem.
“From a safety perspective, there is a huge deterrent from going into places like Soho,” he said, adding that “petty crime is rife” and that many businesses felt forced to “self-police” their premises due to there not being enough local officers.
Jo May of the Soho Business Alliance criticised councils for imposing strict licensing requirements, which she said have forced venues to shut earlier than they would like, despite the number of tourists who visit London to enjoy its nightlife.
“They’re coming into central London, they’re looking for places to go out and have a good time, to spend their money,” she said. “Soho’s rolling up the pavements at 11pm. If you’re not a member of a club, sorry tourists - take your money back to your hotel and go to bed.”
Ms May said that bringing back tax-free shopping for tourists and reducing VAT for the hospitality sector would “really help” venues.
Asked about the issue at Mayor’s Question Time last week, Mr Khan said: “There are challenges post-pandemic for all global cities. I speak regularly to colleagues in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Tokyo, Montreal, Toronto, Sydney - all facing big challenges.
“The good news is we’re ahead of that crowd in relation to the bounceback, in relation to the night-time economy in general returning to the centre of our city.”
But he admitted there has been a change of “lifestyle habits” since the pandemic, with revellers now increasingly keen to go for nights out in their local town centre rather than necessarily travelling into central London.
Mr Khan also acknowledged that labour shortages were a major challenge for the sector.
“There are three million people - freelancers and others - who were excluded from any support from the Government during the pandemic. A lot of them worked in the night-time economy, a lot of them got other jobs, and haven’t come back,” he said, adding that Brexit has also reduced the number of EU citizens who had previously filled vacancies.
The mayor told the Assembly he was committed to having “conversations” with councils about the “tensions” that can arise between residents and businesses. In addition, he said he is lobbying the Government to make changes to the VAT system, create a fairer business rates scheme, provide more support to London’s police, and to devolve more skills-related powers to City Hall.
“We’re in regular contact with these businesses, and there will be announcements over the course of the next few weeks about some of the stuff we are doing in relation to supporting the night-time economy,” he said.
