End of an Era? The death of the UK’s nightlife scene

Clubs closing, the rise of unsociable young people after the pandemic and an increase of non-drinkers – what does this mean for Britain’s big nights out?

Venue curfews, pricey pints and the cost-of-living crisis – clubbing as we know it is in complete decline.

The ‘Big Night Out’ is an undeniable part of British culture. For decades the bright lights, questionable dancing and disco beats have served as an outlet to escape mundane city life, a way to celebrate or sometimes commiserate and a means to socialise with the people you love.

Earlier this year, the Night Time Industries Association (NITA) announced that 31% of all nightclubs in the UK have closed in the last three years. This amounts to a staggering 396 nightclubs in total. Sacha Lord, Manchester’s first Night Time Economy Advisor who is also the co-founder of the city’s famous super club Warehouse Project said: “If the current trajectory continues, there won’t be any left come 2030”.

In February 2024, the UK’s largest nightclub operator, Rekom, announced its closure of 17 sites across its estate and the fact that they will be calling in administrators following a ‘difficult year’. This includes infamous popular club chains such as Pryzm and Atik.

Clearly, nightlife in 2024 is miles away from the extravagance and excitement of the early 90’s with nearly three quarters of the UK’s nightclubs shutting since 2005. Norman Cook who is better known for his stage name ‘Fatboy Slim’ is a notorious DJ who has been in and amongst the British nightlife industry for over 4 four decades now. Cook said, “The first five years of the 90’s were this lovely thing, there were huge amounts of people going to clubs every weekend. Every town had a super club, but it gradually got less fun, exciting, and different and more mainstream.”

The iconic producer added: “One of the problems with life is if something’s really good and is making someone tonnes of money, other unscrupulous people come in who want nothing but money who don’t preserve or nurture the beautiful side of it.” Cook further explained: “Eventually that tends to ruin it for example nightclubs charging more for drinks, and DJ’s agents charging more for them to DJ, it all becomes a bit stupid!”

Just two weeks ago, The London Mayor, Sadiq Khan promoted the city’s round-the-clock credentials. Khan took to X writing that Britain’s capital is “leading the world in its 24-hour policy, with other global cities looking to us for inspiration”. This statement proved to be controversial as users criticised him, highlighting the “decline” and “slow death” of London’s nightlife industries in the time that he has been Mayor.

So, should our government be doing more to protect the hospitality and nightlife industry? An industry that thousands of people across the country rely on to earn a living. Stuart Glen, the Managing Director of East London nightclub, ‘The Cause’, said: “It’s pretty tough as an operator right now, I definitely wouldn’t advise opening a club!”

Stuart, who has over 20 years of experience in marketing events, venues and festivals said: “it would be nice if the government could recognise how difficult it is for those running the this industry and help in some way, but I don’t think they will.”

In terms of why young people are not going out as much, Stuart added, “I think there’s been a cultural change in this generation, as they are more health conscious and often want a different lifestyle. Obviously, this has a lot to do with the increased prices of everything.”

These days, it is not shocking for entry to a club to be around £10 with the same price for an alcoholic drink. A survey conducted by The Deltic Group 5 years ago, found that Consumers (aged 18 to 24) spend an average of £69.64 on a night out. With nationwide inflation and the state of this cost-of-living crisis in 2024, reckless spending on nights out is becoming less and less feasible for the average Brit.

Also, many young adults don’t want to drink at all as a survey from independent charity ‘drinkaware’ found that the number of 18-to-24-year old’s who don’t drink at all has increased by 7% since 2017. On top of this, the issue of drink spiking is more prevalent than ever with 20,000 police reports of spiking being made in the last five years, this will be another factor affecting the number of young people wanting to go out and drink.

Another reason for the reduced number of clubbers is the fact that since the pandemic, an increased number of young people are being classed as ‘socially stunted’. Just under one in 10 people aged 16 to 29 reported feeling lonely often or always, according to a recent Office for National Statistics data by the Campaign to End Loneliness. This was the highest level of all age groups.

Are generation Z turning into generation stay-at-home? According to Struggling nightlife titans, Rekom, 1 in 3 younger Brits are socialising less. However, it’s not just Brits, as even the Aussies, who are notorious for their wild partying antics, are going out less with a recent survey in Australia finding that 71% of gen Z’s had cut back on going out.

This lack of yearning for socialising and companionship cannot be surprising when dating, chatting, takeaway food is all available over a screen and from your sofa.

Although, it could be suggested that this is a worldwide occurrence, as a result of everyone spending too much time alone in lockdown. Moreover, it’s not just the westernised countries that are seeing this decrease in late night socialising as worries about “reclusive youths” who often don’t leave the house caused South Korea’s government to propose a monthly allowance of $490 to get them outside.

However, this is obviously not the case for all young people as of course many still love the nightclub culture and will find ways of dancing the night away despite the high expenses and potential dangers.