Almost half of UK nightclubs closed in the last decade
The figures show that nearly half of the UK’s nightclubs have shut down over the last 10 years, with 3,144 clubs open in 2005 compared to 1,733 in 2015.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), says that in some areas nightclubs will not be making a comeback and that residents who want to live in vibrant areas should not complain about the noise that clubs create.
She believes that planning and licensing laws are to blame for the closures and that it is too easy for neighbours to complain, even if the venue was there before they moved in.
“People want to have their cake and eat it. You want vibe and to live in a cool area, then you need the other, edgier side of it,” she said.
Lohan Presencer, chief executive of world-renowned club chain Ministry of Sound, said that people are going to different places now than they were in the 1990s: “I don't think the number of people going clubbing at the weekend is any different to where it was 20 years ago, but I do think they are going to different places.”
The move away from clubs has seen DJs headline alternative venues such as festivals and concert halls, as well as abandoned warehouses and industrial estates.
The ALMR say that clubbing venues created of 37,000 new jobs in 2014, with 80 per cent of those in the 18-24 age bracket, raising concerns that club closures could see a rise in youth unemployment.
