Why education is key to powering up London’s night-time economy

When the sun sets on London town and those who have returned to their offices spill out of them to make the commute home, the city doesn’t quite go to sleep. A new set of workers spills out. Those working in the bars, restaurants and clubs, but also night shift workers – nurses, doctors, cleaners, security staff, traders, etc. There are some 1.6m people in London who work at night, and prior to the pandemic the capital’s night-time businesses contributed as much as £26bn to the UK economy. The sector nationally provides £112bn in annual revenues, making it bigger than the fashion, beauty and automotive industries. But Covid decimated the night-time economy, and aside from the promise of some night-time enterprise zones by the London mayor to help revive the capital’s high streets after 6pm, the sector is getting very little help. The big question is why? With a government so focused on increasing the country’s productivity, surely as much focus on the night-time economy as there is on the daytime economy is essential. The heart of the ecosystem Ros Morgan, chief executive of the Heart of London Business Alliance, a business improvement district that looks after some 96 acres of the West End, certainly thinks the night-time economy deserves more attention. “The West End struggled [during Covid],” she says. “We were one of the last to come out of the pandemic as a direct result of the evening and night-time economy being non-existent because it was impossible for it to be able to operate under the conditions that were set. For me, that demonstrated the truth, the real reality of how important the night-time economy is to the whole ecosystem.” “The night-time economy is so important,” adds Matthew Sims, chief executive of the Croydon Business Improvement District. “It’s huge. We’re a 24/7 city. We love to go out. We love to socialise. We love to have fun. And that’s why it is such an important part of the economy.” But, says Sims, the conditions have to be right to support the sector. Enthusiasm and passion are one thing, he says, but you need focus and you need investment. DWF’s head of the real estate and hospitality sectors, Melanie Williams, agrees. She is keen to point out how diverse the night-time economy is and how important it is for all stakeholders to come together if the capital really is to make the most out of what could be a booming economy. “We’re not talking about a monoculture here,” she says, “we’re not talking about drinking alcohol and going to pubs and clubs. We are talking about all the diverse things that we need to sustain a night-time economy, and the investment and the collaboration you need between the different stakeholders.” She adds: “That runs across property owners, across BIDs, across councils, across government, but also across private investors and how we get that private investment in. It’s such a fragmented picture that we have to grapple with. And you need collaboration to be able to tackle the issues that we’ve got.” In the dark For Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Alliance, the answer to all of this is education. No-one really understands what the night-time economy is or how valuable it can be in helping to rebuild the UK. “The big challenge that we’ve got is educating government on what the night-time economy is,” he says. Kill believes that a wide-ranging strategy that looks at 24-hour hubs is needed to really unlock the power of the night-time economy. For him, that strategy would allow the freedom to trade, to access planning and licensing. “There is going to be a lot of work to do in giving businesses the opportunity to trade beyond pre-pandemic capacity, and without all the constraints, without the bureaucracy,” he says. “It’s a huge industry. It’s got to be given greater consideration in government. And that means that they’ve got to educate, and part of that role is us educating them.” More than pubs and clubs Morgan adds: “I’ve been working across town centres and city centres for 20 years, and every single council, every administration – bar none – does not understand what the evening and night-time economy is. They only regard it as premises, licensed venues. Pubs and clubs and people being sick. “That’s where the conversation and the narrative absolutely need to change. We need to look beyond that obvious narrative, and we need to really be grown up and recognise that there is a hell of a lot more going on than just pubs and clubs. We’ve got all that night-time tourism coming in with the West End theatres, but we’ve also got a huge number of workers, whether they’re care workers or service workers, and they are in and out of the area all the time. And there are no services available for them other than McDonald’s. And that’s not even a joke. That is the only place you can get a meal or can use the loo 24/7. And thank goodness for that.” Morgan says all of those issues need to be addressed if London really is to be the best city in the world. And for those issues to be addressed there need to be more people making decisions on the evening and night-time economy who understand it. “You can’t have an FIA director directing Formula One unless he understands motor racing,” says Kill, “so how do you expect a police officer to enforce against a business that he has no understanding of culturally?” Morgan, Kill, Sims and Williams all agree that there is a need not just for more night czars, like the GLA’s Amy Lamé, Manchester’s Sacha Lord and Bristol’s Carly Heath, but for a minister for the evening and night-time economy if attitudes and actions are to change. That minister should not be a politician, though, says Morgan. “I want someone who has been there and done it and has the experience of the industry.” For Williams, it is more than just having someone focused on the sector. She wants to see more intelligent structuring around getting more, and sustained, private investment into the sector – a collaborative approach that places just as much importance on the night-time economy as the daytime. The panel Michael Kill, chief executive, Night Time Industries Association Ros Morgan, chief executive, Heart of London Business Alliance Matthew Sims, chief executive, Croydon Business Improvement District Melanie Williams, head of real estate and hospitality sectors, DWF To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews Photo © Recal Media/Pexels