'Nobody's going out!' Why is Britain's nightlife in such decline - and can anything save it? [View all]

(Guardian UK) The £5 entry is a good start. So is the loud, lively music booming down the nightclub’s stairway. But when I finally reach the dancefloor, hidden behind a curtain, my hopes for a wild night out in Birmingham are dashed. Despite the roving disco lights and blaring pop bangers, it is entirely empty, aside from a few bartenders milling around, tending to no one.

This isn’t 9pm on a random Tuesday. I am hitting the town on Saturday night, when the city’s bars and clubs should be in full swing, but Birmingham is looking like a bust.

Perhaps this was to be expected. The nightlife sector in the UK has declined massively in recent years. More than a quarter of all late-night venues across the UK shut their doors for good between 2020 and 2025, according to the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) – and the “second city” has been hit particularly hard. Birmingham experienced a 28% drop in the number of bars, clubs and other establishments to grab a late-night drink in over the same period, the largest decline of any major UK city.

As well as soaring bills, business rates and staff costs, pubs and nightclubs are contending with an increasing number of people shunning alcohol. Earlier this year, an NHS survey found that one in four adults in England don’t drink alcohol, with the West Midlands (where Birmingham is located) and London having the highest proportions of non-drinkers. So, how bad is it and can the Saturday night out survive? ...................(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/may/05/why-is-britains-nightlife-in-decline