LONDON - Britain's nightlife, which struggled to survive when the pandemic kept revellers at home, is facing an uphill battle again as the cost-of-living crisis squeezes promoters and punters alike.
"It's been tough times," said Hans Hess, owner of the Egg London nightclub near the King's Cross, which along with most other clubs closed temporarily during Covid lockdowns."We re-opened a year ago, and now we're faced with new problems such as inflation." Marco Di Rienzo, owner of the Yorkshire restaurant Santoni, expects his winter energy bill to reach upwards of £2,000 per month. That's almost double what he currently pays. He's preparing to close his business five years after it opened, and names rocketing energy costs as one of the reasons.
Households for now have been are shielded from a surge in energy costs at the wholesale level, but regulators will allow consumer bills to rise again in the autumn. That could push inflation past 13 per cent, the highest in 40 years, and tighten the grip on income that some people would normally spend in bars and clubs.
"At the moment, we need to hit our weekly targets and that's the only way to do it." He's also replaced appliances, curbed use of gas and started looking for more ways to reduce the club's energy footprint.