Calls to appoint late-night economy champions in Scotland

Hospitality and late-night economy champions should be appointed in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the Scottish Beer & Pub Association (SBPA) has urged.

It comes after the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) called for night time advisors to be appointed in every major city to help the late-night economy – which used to be worth £112.8b in 2019 – to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

The late-night hospitality sector has lost almost a third of its nightclubs and around 90,000 jobs during the pandemic.

Sacha Lord (appointed in 2018) and Carly Heath (appointed April 2021) are currently the only two night time economy advisors in the UK, and are based in Manchester and Bristol respectively. Amy Lamé has a similar role as night czar of London.

Lord sought several judicial reviews to support hospitality businesses during the pandemic, while Heath pushed a campaign to tackle drink spiking, which made headlines this week following the release of the Home Affairs Committee report into the issue.

Andrew Lawrence, president of the SBPA, said: “Scotland’s beer and pub industry supports 62,000 jobs and contributes £1.75b to the national economy every year.

“The restrictions placed on our members during the pandemic had a severe impact. We fully understood the need to keep people safe but now, as we come out of the pandemic, there must be a path to recovery.

“Appointing industry champions to stick up for the industry, to help local and national government understand the challenges we face and what is needed to build back, would be a great start."

The SBPA has released a 10-point manifesto ahead of local elections on 5 May which recommends further methods of supporting the late-night sector’s recovery ‘post-Covid’, such as the permanent removal of outdoor permit fees and better public transport.

Lawrence added: “Our survival and subsequent recovery is dependent on the support of national and local policymakers. This manifesto gives 10 clear ways in which they can do that, rejuvenate the sector and our town and city centres across the country”.

The full manifesto can be accessed here.

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