The Student Room Group

Are less students going on nights out?

I saw this on the news. Since I started uni in 2012, a long time has passed. We always lived for nights out. Mid-week deals with pints being £1.50 and a double JD being £2. I stopped going on nights out completely after undergrad, but I'm just curious about this next generation of students.

‘It’s not just a dancefloor’: the precipitous decline of UK nightclubs | Hospitality industry | The Guardian says that

"In 2013, the UK had 1,700 nightclubs. By June 2024 there were fewer than half as many, just 787, according to figures from the analysts CGA by NIQ and AlixPartners, before a slight resurgence in recent months."

I just went on google to check the places that I used to go to 12 years ago and most of them are closed down or they only open on Friday and Saturday nights.

Personally I got bored of nights out pretty fast. I only really did it for year 2 years and then by my final year of uni, I stopped to focus on my studies. So it has been a while for me. Gen-z, what do you think about this?
Reply 1
You need only see on here how many don't drink etc. There is a definite decline. I have sidelines in nightlife/hospitality and for probably the past 10 years you've not really been able to rely on the student demographic for trade. Only the big, heavy hitters (franchised, usually) are insulated from this
Original post by gjd800
You need only see on here how many don't drink etc. There is a definite decline. I have sidelines in nightlife/hospitality and for probably the past 10 years you've not really been able to rely on the student demographic for trade. Only the big, heavy hitters (franchised, usually) are insulated from this

But the rate of the decline in the last 12 years is a lot more than I expected. 1,700 to only 700 nightclubs?

Also what other demographic to they target for trade? Most of my mates at my age are well past nights out and we also don't have the money to go out. It costs minimum £80 for a night out. Even if we had the money, we are too tired after work and would rather stay in with our families.
Reply 3
Original post by UnemployedPhd
But the rate of the decline in the last 12 years is a lot more than I expected. 1,700 to only 700 nightclubs?
Also what other demographic to they target for trade? Most of my mates at my age are well past nights out and we also don't have the money to go out. It costs minimum £80 for a night out. Even if we had the money, we are too tired after work and would rather stay in with our families.

Over 40s are still a safe ish bet.

Where I live, working 20+ are also a safe bet, but not students of any variety. We gear some nights 40+ and they do.the best in terms of attendance and money over the bar. Then we aim a bit younger with another a d that does ok, not as well as the other, but again with working young people rather than students.

The trade is there but unless you're franchised doing food as well, or are in a good spec in a city centre, it's harder to get at. Much more emphasis on a USP type thing these days.
Original post by gjd800
Over 40s are still a safe ish bet.
Where I live, working 20+ are also a safe bet, but not students of any variety. We gear some nights 40+ and they do.the best in terms of attendance and money over the bar. Then we aim a bit younger with another a d that does ok, not as well as the other, but again with working young people rather than students.
The trade is there but unless you're franchised doing food as well, or are in a good spec in a city centre, it's harder to get at. Much more emphasis on a USP type thing these days.

Over 40s aren't really going to interested in nightclubs. I know they go to pubs and that's mostly for food nowadays. Even then, the pubs in my area(Small town of 10K people) are only busy on Saturday evenings. Even Friday's are becoming dead now. I'm really curious about how they actually make money.

I agree with you that this is becoming a city centre only thing, but even then, most of the nightclubs that I went to back in 2012 are closed or turned into restaurants and that was in the middle of a booming city centre.
Original post by UnemployedPhd
Over 40s aren't really going to interested in nightclubs.


I very strongly beg to differ.
Original post by PinkMobilePhone
I very strongly beg to differ.

Really? I can't imagine nightclubs with people over 40... Most of them have kids, certainly my friends age 40+ are not interested in that.
Original post by UnemployedPhd
Really? I can't imagine nightclubs with people over 40... Most of them have kids, certainly my friends age 40+ are not interested in that.


I'm 41 and I know plenty of people my age who like nightclubs.
Maybe a disclaimer that I'm talking about people who err towards the side of gothic / rock / alternative, and going to alternative / rock nightclubs.
(edited 3 weeks ago)
Reply 8
Original post by UnemployedPhd
Over 40s aren't really going to interested in nightclubs. I know they go to pubs and that's mostly for food nowadays. Even then, the pubs in my area(Small town of 10K people) are only busy on Saturday evenings. Even Friday's are becoming dead now. I'm really curious about how they actually make money.
I agree with you that this is becoming a city centre only thing, but even then, most of the nightclubs that I went to back in 2012 are closed or turned into restaurants and that was in the middle of a booming city centre.

We have the over 40 crowd in our place till 2am on average, from an 8 start. Not a nightclub, granted, but really the question is broader than that.

The other side is clubs aren't really necessary to stay out late any more, because since 2005, a pub or bar can work within 24hr licensing. Where I am, the local big bar is open later than any of the clubs used to be.

There are loads of reasons but licensing and young person increased focus on health, post-pandemic shift in habits, huge increase in operating costs etc are all instrumental to the failures of large clubs. I think there's been a 40% drop in clubs since the 2020 lockdowns. It can't be coincidental. Hard to make things work now, got to be at it in ways we never thought we would when we were running nights back in 2007.
Original post by gjd800
We have the over 40 crowd in our place till 2am on average, from an 8 start. Not a nightclub, granted, but really the question is broader than that.
The other side is clubs aren't really necessary to stay out late any more, because since 2005, a pub or bar can work within 24hr licensing. Where I am, the local big bar is open later than any of the clubs used to be.
There are loads of reasons but licensing and young person increased focus on health, post-pandemic shift in habits, huge increase in operating costs etc are all instrumental to the failures of large clubs. I think there's been a 40% drop in clubs since the 2020 lockdowns. It can't be coincidental. Hard to make things work now, got to be at it in ways we never thought we would when we were running nights back in 2007.

And on top of that, consumers like myself just don't have the money to go to those places anymore. I'm not into it anymore anyway, but I really feel sorry for the new generation that want to go out. Where are they they going to get the money from when our rent, electricity bills and food costs have nearly doubled since the pandemic started. I used to pay £2 for pints, they cost £6 now.

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