Sacha Lord, the Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester, said:
“I welcome the appointment of the new Culture Secretary, Lucy Frazer, today. The sector has experienced the toughest years in its history and with this move I hope the support it is given starts to reflect its importance to economic growth.
“I encourage the new Culture Secretary to work urgently with the Chancellor ahead of his Spring Budget next month in order to deliver renewed opportunity and hope to the hundreds of thousands of hard working people our sector employs.
“I also urge the Secretary to call on the Chancellor to rethink business energy support, which will fall away substantially from next month leading to the inevitable closure of swathes of cultural and leisure venues across the UK.”
According to the Office for National Statistics (Jan 2023), Britain’s night-time economy has shed 700,000 jobs in the last six years as nightclubs and bars warn they face closure from the surge in energy bills and squeeze on consumer spending. Employment in cultural and leisure activities and sectors that support the industry has shrunk by almost a 10th since peaking in 2018.
A third of businesses are cutting trading days as a result of the spiralling energy bills, according to UKHospitality this February.
