The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has released ‘Forward into the Night’, a report by Professor Frank Furedi on the changing landscape of Britain’s cultural and economic life.
The report makes it very clear that the Night Time Economy (NTE) now makes a major contribution to the UK economy – not just in London – that needs to be more widely recognized and supported.
We publish below the Executive Summary and Recommendations of the Report: all those operating even in part in the NTE should take the time to understand that they are part of an important industry that needs to be protected, supported, and encouraged to deliver best practice – not simply harassed and overwhelmed by regulation and restriction.
Value to the UK
The UK is shifting socially and culturally towards the night time
For an increasing proportion of the population social activities either begin with or extend into the night. This trend is not isolated to the UK and around the world global cities are adapting in order to keep pace with the demand. The UK and London, in particular, needs to remain competitive in this field if it is to maintain its status as a global capital of culture and commerce.
The night time economy contributes to the financial prosperity of the UK
The night time economy (NTE) supports the wider economy, job creation, regeneration, the UK’s international image and culture. The industry is one of the more resilient and continued to grow throughout the recession,creating jobs and generating revenue:
- Worth a total of £66 billion
- Accounting for nearly 6 per cent of the UK’s GDP
- Employing1.3 million people.
The UK is recognised internationally for its diverse night time offering
Of the 1.5 billion day visits to the UK in 2014, approximately 300 million had a meal or night out as their focus. According to TripAdvisor rankings, two of the top three destinations for night-life in Europe are in the UK and in 2014 inbound tourism to the UK saw 34.8 million visitors spend £21.7 billion.
The success of the night time economy isn’t just limited to London
The combination of a thriving cultural leisure sector with a dynamic NTE has played an important role in enhancing the international appeal of urban centres outside London. Both Manchester and Liverpool have benefitted from international tourism while Newcastle has reinvented itself as an internationally renowned party town. In 2012 Newcastle attracted
1.9 million visitors and the tourist trend contributed £404 million to the economy.
The night time economy offers a unique opportunity to local authorities both in the transformation of urban space and in assisting the project of economic and cultural regeneration. The Department for Communities and Local Government has estimated that the UK evening and night time economy accounts for between 10 and 16 per cent of a town centre’s employment.
The revitalisation of British high streets requires creative regeneration projects and should use the attraction provided by the NTE.
The UK’s Social Shift : NTE is a fact of life
The night time economy (NTE) has become a fact of life, yet the dramatic shift from a daytime to a 24-hour economy is rarely discussed by policy makers and the media. This development has received far less attention than the ascendancy of Sunday shopping, for example and the subsequent rise of a seven-day consumer economy. Yet the benefits – actual and potential – of extending economic, cultural and social activities into the late night have far greater implications than Sunday shopping.
Social and cultural life organised around the nine-to-five working day is gradually giving way to lifestyles and employment practices that are radically different to the convent ions of the past. Over seven million employees – a quarter of the British workforce – work night shifts, around 10 per cent of UK employees – over two and a half million people – work at night on a regular basis.
The NTE involves the provision of goods, services and experiences associated with the conduct of nightlife. Leisure experiences such as entertainment, music, clubbing, and the consumption of food and alcohol are the principal activities associated with the NTE. An efficient infrastructure, especially for transport and logistics, is essential for the NTE to flourish.
The British NTE has been remarkably successful in mitigating some of the destruct –
ive consequences of economic recession. According to the Government’s figures the continuing growth of the 24-hour economy means that there were over half a million more people working nights in 2012 than in 2002.The Treasury estimated its worth at £66 billion.
Symbolic capital
The impact of the NTE cannot be captured through economic statistics alone. It also generates symbolic capital. Symbolic capital refers to the resources available to individuals, groups, institutions and business on the basis of their status and prestige. The symbolic capital generated by the NTE makes a significant contribution to the image of the United Kingdom. It produces cultural va lue that is converted into an asset for other sectors, such as the creative and tourism industries, attracting inward investment and assisting urban regeneration.
The Night Time Industry’s Economic Contribution
The tremendous economic and social benefits of a 24-hour London are now recognised by policy makers involved in the running of the city. Both Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Mayor of London have acknowledged the importance of improving the infrastructural support for the NTE.
City Hall and Transport for London have undertaken to make life easier and cheaper for Londoners travelling late at night and in the early morning. London Underground will run 24-hour weekend Underground services from September 2015. Transport for London predicted that this move would support almost 2000 permanent jobs and boost the economy by £360 million. It was also announced that the London over ground will run 24 hours from 2017 and all-night services will be extended to the DLR by 2021.
Investment in 24-hour transportation makes sense, since there is already a demand for it. The sca le of the demand is demonstrated by the fact that the number of late-night London Underground journeys has risen at twice the rate of daytime trips since 2ooo.
London is by no means the only city to integrate the NTE into its future plans for economic development. Cities such as Manchester and Liverpool have placed great emphasis on the promotion of a robust NTE into their future plans. Liverpool has adopted an ambitious strategy for leveraging its symbolic capital, seeking to provide a world class visitor experience. The development of the Liverpool ONE scheme sought to provide a state-of-the-art environment for retailing along with the pursuit of cultural and leisure activities. A report by its developers noted that the ‘planners insisted on Liverpool ONE being open 24 hours a day’ .
The Night Time Economy And British Society
While a distinction can be made between the daytime and night time economies, the two are interconnected. People carry on their daytime activities into the evening and frequently continue to look for leisure experiences well into the night. A night out in a cinema or restaurant is often followed by going for a drink in a bar.
Daytime businesses are aware of the allure of the night to potential customers and are increasingly seeking to take advantage of the NTE by staying open later. The phenomenon of night markets and pop-up shops throughout the country indicates that night time leisure activity has had a spin-off effect on other businesses.
Today, the NTE plays a prominent role in the economic and social life of every major city and many towns, accounting for nearly a third of the turnover of town and city centres. Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Belfast, Glasgow, Nottingham and Newcastle are just some of the beneficiaries of the economic contribution of the NTE. Towns from Brighton, Bournemouth and Newquay to Romford and Lincoln have all profited from input by the NTE.
The past three decades has seen a qualitative transformation of urban economies, away from industry and towards service-oriented, leisure, and cultural pursuits. The 21st century NTE plays an essential role in the reinvention of cities as spaces where every day economic activity meshes with cultural and social experiences.
The growth of the NTE is interconnected with the growing global significance of the symbolic economy, which blends economic investment with cultural capital. This has encouraged the cultivation of a distinct urban experience. The NTE plays a key role in attracting investment and consumers to participate in the experience economy. Global competition has forced cities to adopt strategies for developing attractive sites for the pursuit of leisure and entertainment. Some of the most successful international cities such as Barcelona, Berlin, New York or Sydney have enhanced their status and position because their cultural activities and experiences are perceived as vibrant and exciting. It is no coincidence that all these successful cities are also 24-hour urban environments.
London has led the way in the development of the cosmopolitan 24-hour economy. Nightlife is not simply confined to bars, clubs, and other entertainment venues: the successful example of night time industries has encouraged complementary enterprises to experiment. Hairdressers, fitness centres, grocers and other retailers are regularly frequented by late-night Londoners. Cultural venues have begun to extend their opening hours. During the final weekend of its run, the Tate Modem’s Matisse exhibition stayed open for 36 hours non-stop. The Tate Modern decided to become a museum of dance for 48 hours in May 2015, and its world-famous Turbine Hall was transformed into a nightclub. Theatres and cinemas have also sought to take advantage of the willingness of tourists and Londoners to attend late-night performances.
Powerful social trends and global economic forces continue to drive the 24-hour city, throughout the modern world. The night time economy provides a socially-inclusive forum through which different groups of society can interact and although it is frequently argued that the NTE contributes to the polarised life led by generations, it in fact has considerable potential for providing a bridge between generations. Across Europe, people in their 40s and 50s engage with the night time economy alongside younger generations
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