Almost 500 UK nightclubs have closed over the past four years
This week London’s legendary nightclub Tiger Tiger by Piccadilly Circus shut its doors for good.
The closure comes just weeks after it was revealed that 480 nightclubs had closed across the UK over the past four years.
The Night Time Industry Association (NTIA), which shared the statistics, said the decline in clubs was ‘devastating’ for the country’s night-time economy and said there was an ‘urgent need for support and intervention’.
It added that the dance music spaces, which it called the ‘lifeblood of the scene’, were particularly badly hit.
There were an average of 10 club closures a month between June 2020 and June 2024, according to the figures, put together by CGA Neilson.
Worryingly the pace of closures increased this year, with 65 shutting between December 2023 and June 2024 – equating to 11 closures a month.
As our map shows, the hardest hit region over the past four years is Yorkshire, which saw a 45% fall, from 132 venues to just 73.
Tiger Tiger in London shut this week (Picture: Shutterstock/Lenscap Photography)
This was followed by Lancashire and the south west, which both saw a 42% drop, with Lancashire going from 178 to 104 clubs and the south west falling from 111 to 64.
Wales didn’t fare much better, dropping from 66 to 39 venues, a 41% decline.
The north east had the lowest drop of 20%, although their overall number was smaller to begin with. It lost 12 venues, leaving the area with 49 in total.
Percentage-wise, London also suffered a relatively low fall of 29%, going from 200 to 143. But that’s still 57 closures over four years.
The figure doesn’t include Tiger Tiger, which shut after the report came out.
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The highest percentage of closures was in Yorkshire, with the north east seeing the lowest (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
Number of nightclub closures by region
The fall in nightclub venues by region from June 2020 to June 2024:
South & South East: From 92 to 70
South West: 111 to 64
London: 200 to 143
Central Region: 200 to 118
East: 67 to 41
Wales: 66 to 39
Lancashire:178 to 104
Yorkshire: 132 to 73
North East: 61 to 49
Scotland: 125 to 83
Speaking last month, NTIA CEO, Michael Kill, put the rapid closure of clubs down to ‘rising cost and lack of essential public services’ as well as red tape around licensing and planning.
He said: ‘Late-night transport is unreliable, police presence is scarce, and venues are forced to spend on security and cleaning—services that should be publicly provided.
‘Additionally, bureaucratic systems around licensing and planning are inconsistent and definitely not conducive to growth, weighing us down at every point.
‘Our sector is …read more
Source:: Metro
