With clubs closing and the rise of no-alcohol Britain, is this the death of the big night out?
Big nights out on the town are an undeniable part of British culture – but are they about to be consigned to the memories of those of us born before the turn of the century?
Nightlife experts warn we’re losing one club every two days at the moment – and if we stay on this trajectory, we will have none left by 2030.
“The main reason we’re seeing nightclubs close is that midweek nights have completely fallen away and it’s mainly down to the cost of living,” says Sacha Lord, night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester.
That was also the reason given by the owner of the UK’s biggest club chain when it announced a slew of closures earlier this month. Rekom, which owns popular club brands Pryzm and Atik, said it would be closing 17 venues because students hit by the cost of living crisis were cutting back on club nights.
Before the pandemic, Mr Lord explains, students would often be clubbing midweek – but now they’re having house parties instead to save money while they grapple with soaring rents and food prices.
“A nightclub business is not sustainable just on a Saturday night and a semi-good Friday night,” he says.
‘We used to hit the wine heavy – not so much now’
There’s another trend that is proving a challenge for nightlife businesses: Generation Z appears to be our most sober one yet.
The Portman Group’s 2023 annual survey with YouGov suggested 39% of 18 to 24-year-olds don’t drink alcohol at all.
While this is welcome in many ways, the UK’s ingrained booze culture means much of our night-time economy is centred around drinking.
Laura Willoughby, who runs Club Soda, an alcohol-free bar and shop, says older people are also starting to cut back on their drinking because they want a healthier lifestyle.
“We hit the wine quite heavy as women in that generation and we’re now hitting menopause so we’re looking to cut back,” she says.
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Laura Willoughby says people want choice more than anything. Pic: Club Soda
A recent report by hospitality research organisation KAM found 5.2 million fewer adults drank weekly last year than in 2021 – with three-quarters of adults moderating their alcohol intake to some extent.
Drinks expert Dan Whiteside believes the availability of information about the bad effects of alcohol and the rise of health influencers are also driving people to cut back.
“People have been going out less for quite some time,” he says.
“Clubs will probably become a thing of the past.”
What about the good old British pub?
Shifts in behaviour are also hitting pubs and restaurants.
It seems inconceivable that the British pub could suffer a similar fate to the nightclub, but experts say people drinking less and choosing to end their nights earlier are forcing many of these businesses to rethink their strategy.
Nearly 400 pubs in England and Wales closed their doors for good in the first half of 2023 – with many also blaming sky-high energy bills, soaring costs of ingredients and difficulties hiring staff.
Liam Davy, head of bars at steakhouse chain Hawksmoor, says: “I live in Hackney, which is one of the most vibrant boroughs in London in terms of late night economy. The number of late night businesses that have shut down or are really struggling, it really speaks to people doing things a little bit earlier.”
Liam Davy has seen a ‘big spike’ in sales of non-alcoholic drinks. Pic: Hawksmoor
So what will tempt customers back?
For Karl Considine, the “alternative choice” his alcohol-free cocktail bar offers appears to be a huge success.
Love From (@love.fromco) in Manchester is regularly packed with people sipping cocktails and enjoying a fun night out – but the difference is, everyone there is sober.
“I’m really clear on that we’re a night-time venue, not a daytime venue – we don’t do coffee, drinks or hot food,” he says.
Pic: Love From/@oliverlawsonfood
Mr Considine himself has struggled with alcohol addiction in the past, when he would find he could “never just have a quiet night” and would “always want to take it further”.
While Love From is a safe space for those in recovery, he is clear the bar is “absolutely” for everyone – including those who are drinkers but just want something different.
Karl Considine has struggled with alcohol addiction – and says his bar is a safe space for all. Pic: Love From/@oliverlawsonfood
Will alcohol-free bars become more popular?
Love From is not the only alcohol-free night-time venue to have popped up in recent years – among others, there’s also London’s LGBT club night House of Happiness and of course Club Soda.
But Ms Willoughby says she doesn’t think we’ll see a huge increase in alcohol-free venues like hers because “what people actually want is choice”.
Inside Club Soda in London. Pic: Club Soda
Many people are cutting down on alcohol rather than giving it up altogether, she says.
Club Soda runs workshops for retailers to learn about alcohol-free products, and those who ended up expanding their alcohol-free menus have seen their group bookings increase.
“Everybody wants to have a nice time – they don’t want to sit there with a tap water or a very sugary soda which they can only have one of – they want to participate fully,” she says.
No longer an afterthought
Low and no-alcohol products are now the fastest growing part of the industry.
Mr Whiteside says the amount and range of products has “exploded” in recent years, and they can be found in most bars and restaurants.
Meanwhile, Mr Davy says he’s seen a “big spike” in sales of non-alcoholic drinks.
His company has started paying more attention to that section of the menu “when to be honest in the past it might have been a bit more of an afterthought or something aimed at kids”.
Hawksmoor has started offering a wider selection of alcohol-free drinks – including this sour cherry no-groni. Pic: Hawksmoor
Although most pub and restaurant chains have adapted and now have better low and no-alcohol drinks menus, he says smaller businesses have been slower to make changes.
And of course it’s more difficult for nightclubs, which are arguably even more centred than alcohol than other businesses.
Then there’s that pervasive marketing problem – the perception that some of these products are overpriced, meaning people will instead opt for a cheap cola or lemonade when they’re not drinking.
So is there anything else businesses can do?
Mr Lord says he has been advising pubs to offer more event-based nights, such as darts or quizzes, to get people back in the door.
This is an opinion shared by Ms Willoughby, who says Generation Z is much more experience-led in their social lives.
“It’s not based around the strength of the drink in their glass and more about lovely evenings out,” she says.
A version of this feature recently appeared in our Money blog here.
Sky News can reveal that the government has rowed back on a national compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse, despite it being promised under the previous Conservative administration.
Warning – this story contains references to sexual and physical abuse
A National Redress Scheme was one of 20 key recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), but a Home Office report reveals the government has scrapped it because of the cost.
Marie, who is 71, suffered alleged sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at Greenfield House Convent in St Helens, Merseyside, between 1959 and 1962, and is still fighting for compensation.
Greenfield House Convent, where Marie says she was abused
As soon as she arrived as a six-year-old, Marie says her hair was cut off, her name changed, and she experienced regular beatings from the nuns and students.
She claims a nun instigated the violence, including when Marie was held down so that her legs were “spread-eagled” as she was sexually abused with a coat hanger.
Merseyside Police investigated claims of abuse at the convent, but in 2016, a suspect died before charges could be brought.
Marie has received an apology from the Catholic body that ran the home; she tried to sue them, but her claim was rejected because it was filed too long after the alleged abuse.
Marie, 71, is still fighting for compensation for the abuse she says she suffered as a child
In February, ministers said the law would change for victims of sexual abuse trying to sue institutions for damages, which was a recommendation from the IICSA.
Previously, people had to make a civil claim before they were 21, unless the victim could prove a fair trial could proceed despite the time lapse.
Campaigners argued for the time limit to be removed as, on average, victims wait 26 years to come forward. Changes to the 1980 Limitation Act could lead to more people making claims.
Peter Garsden, President of The Association of Child Abuse Lawyers
Civil cases ‘can take three to five years’
But Peter Garsden, president of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers, worries that when it comes to historical abuse where the defendant is dead, institutions will still argue that it is impossible to have a fair trial and will fight to have the case thrown out of court.
Mr Garsden said it takes “between three and five years” for a civil case to get to trial.
He warned that claimants “can end up losing if you go through that process. Whereas the Redress Scheme would be quicker, much more straightforward, and much more likely to give justice to the victims”.
Victim awarded £10 compensation
Jimbo, who was a victim of abuse at St Aidan’s children’s home in Cheshire, took his case to the High Court twice and the Court of Appeal three times, but, after 13 years, all he ended up with was £10 for his bus fare to court.
Despite the Lord Justice of Appeal saying he believed that the abuse had occurred, Jimbo lost his claim because of the time limit for child sexual abuse claims to be made.
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Neither Marie nor Jimbo is likely to benefit from the removal of the time limit for personal injury claims, which is why Mr Garsden is calling on the government to implement a National Redress Scheme for victims of sexual abuse, as recommended by the IICSA.
Hundreds of millions paid to victims
The governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland have set up compensation schemes and paid hundreds of millions of pounds to victims.
In 2023, the then Conservative government said a similar scheme would be organised for England and Wales.
But the Home Office admitted in its Tackling Child Sexual Abuse: Progress Update that it “is not currently taking forward any further steps on the IICSA proposal for a separate, national financial redress scheme for all survivors of child sexual abuse”.
“In the current fiscal environment, this recommendation is very difficult to take forward,” it added.
For victims, the scheme was the last chance of compensation for a lifetime blighted by abuse.
“The money is about justice and about all the other people who have had to suffer this abuse,” Marie said.
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