Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, comments:
“We welcome the Government’s move to strengthen protections for 30,000 pubs. These businesses are vital cultural and community assets and absolutely deserve to be protected.
But pubs do not exist in isolation. They are part of a much broader hospitality and night time economy ecosystem of around 90,000 businesses.
That leaves approximately 60,000 businesses, including nightclubs, grassroots music venues, bars, restaurants and other night time economy operators, asking a very simple question: what about us?
These businesses face many of the same pressures and, understandably, increasingly feel unheard and set aside by Government policy.
Nightclubs alone have seen a 36% contraction in the market. This is not because people have suddenly stopped wanting to go out, dance, socialise or experience live music. The cost of day to day living has fundamentally impacted people’s ability to afford those experiences.
Protecting 30,000 pubs is absolutely the right thing to do. But Government must now recognise and protect the other 60,000 businesses that make up this vital economic and cultural ecosystem.”
