Nearly half of UK night time businesses are ‘unsure’ whether they will still be in business this time next year, new research says.
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According to new research from the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), 53.2 per cent of the 200 businesses reached said they are experiencing a 30 per cent rise in operating costs compared to pre-pandemic levels.
“These figures are extremely hard to ignore, the situation is worsening day by day, with operating costs becoming untenable. We are starting to see the impact on customers through slowing tickets sales, bookings and frequency of visit,” NTIA boss Michael Kill said.
Elsewhere in the research, the NTIA revealed that 48 per cent of respondents are “barely breaking even,” with 20 per cent of those losing money on a day-to-day basis.
Those renewing gas and electricity contracts recently have seen a 37 per cent rise in energy bills, while 15 per cent of those surveyed said they had lost half of their pre-pandemic trade.
Kill added: “Our industry is still extremely fragile, many will struggle to survive another crisis.
“Time is running out, the Chancellor must act now, and answer the calls from the industry to reduce VAT back down to 12.5% and an energy cap for SME businesses.”
Back in February, research from the NTIA revealed that nightlife businesses have seen a 26 per cent increase in their total operating costs in the last year.
NTIA CEO Kill said at the time that consumers could end up paying considerably more for a night out in the future as a result.
There are also concerns that clubbers could decide to cut down on the number of nights out they have in an effort to ensure they can pay their household bills amid Britain’s growing cost of living crisis.
At the start of 2022, it was reported that the UK could soon be left with just 5,000 nightclubs in operation across the country. A study using data obtained from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) found that hospitality in the UK has been on the decline for a decade.
The government responded with some financial assistance packages, including a £1billion support package introduced in December 2021 after the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID. However, industry bodies and venues alike criticised the support as being “woefully inadequate”.
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