Christopher BarrettAt a difficult time for grassroots music venues, festivals and artists, London’s Night Czar Amy Lamé provides an update of what the Mayor of London’s team is doing to support live music and nightlife in the capital.
London’s nightlife is the best in the world and I’m delighted that our live entertainment industry is playing its part in helping the capital to roar back after a difficult few years.
This summer more than one million people attended live music shows in just one week in July, enjoying headline artists including Madonna, Blur, Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé, as well as a host of up-and-coming acts across our capital’s famous grassroots music venues. This is in addition to more than one million additional tourists who visited the city in the three months to June.
Now the nights are drawing in, winter is a great time for nightlife and culture in London – Drumsheds has recently opened in the repurposed old IKEA building in Tottenham, late-night licences have been granted for music venues HERE and The Lower Third at The Outernet, and Electric Ballroom in Camden, plus LGBTQ+ venues Little Ku and She in Soho. The Institute of Contemporary Arts on The Mall has adjusted its hours to appeal to later visitors and dozens of attractions are open late from Kew Gardens to the London Transport Museum. London definitely has something for everyone at night.
There’s no escaping that it has been a difficult few years since the pandemic with the cost of living and doing business increasing, staff shortages, and concerns about insecure leases.
“Partnership and collaboration with boroughs and businesses are at the heart of what we do.”
The months leading up to the holidays are some of the most important for the hospitality sector and the Mayor of London and I continue to do all we can to support our incredible cafés, restaurants, and street food businesses, ensuring all aspects of London’s nightlife continue to flourish. Partnership and collaboration with boroughs and businesses are at the heart of what we do, and I’m encouraged by positive developments to help ensure London thrives after dark.
The Mayor created the most pub, music and nightclub friendly planning strategy the capital has ever seen, and asked every borough to create a night time strategy to support London’s economy and communities at night. As a result, we’re working directly with councils, such as Wandsworth, Camden and Westminster, to improve their night time offering by putting these strategies in place and ensure life at night gets the full attention it deserves.
Through our Night Time Enterprise Zones programme we’re also working with local boroughs to help boost our high streets and make them more vibrant and welcoming after dark. Businesses in Bromley High Street have benefited from an increase in visitors of 127 per cent after 9pm. Vauxhall and Woolwich have also seen thousands of extra visitors to their town centres after 6pm.
We’re also cutting red tape for night time businesses, making trading easier through the Business Friendly Licensing Fund and working behind the scenes to protect our much loved venues through the Mayor’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk programme.
The Mayor and I are incredibly proud of the support we’re providing for London’s amazing nightlife businesses and the fantastic collaboration with councils across the capital. We know how important it is to keep this going to make sure all aspects of our nightlife flourish, and will continue to do all we can to help as we build a better London for all.
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