Research Convention for the Night Time Economy Summit 2024

Convened by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA)

From Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th February the NTIA, in conjunction with other sector stakeholders, will be convening the third major Night Time Economy summit at Freight Island, Manchester. The event will discuss the important role that the Night Time Economy plays in economic and cultural recovery both across the UK and internationally.

As part of the Summit, we will be holding a research convention. This presents an opportunity for scholars to present their research and to interface with industry.

Context
The Night Time Economy (NTE) is comprised of a diverse range of businesses that operate between 6pm and 6am. Within that ‘The Night Time Cultural Economy (NTCE) focuses on those elements of the NTE that are driven by cultural, artistic and event activity, and where alcohol, food etc., are secondary’ (NTIA 2023). The NTCE offers a different perspective than the wider NTE or the overarching sector of the Out of Home Leisure Economy (OHLE), playing ‘a vital role in driving footfall and spend to our high streets, towns and cities in the evening and at night. But crucially the NTCE also brings identity, pride and a unique sense of purpose to places’ (NTIA 2023). These include businesses that rely on mass audience participation such as nightclubs, live music, theatre, cinema, performance events, et al.

Over the decade prior to the pandemic the UK NTCE had shown a steady and sustained contribution to the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP), generating 1.64% or £36.9bn in 2019. However, this fell to £29.4bn in 2020 and to £24.1bn in 2021.

One of the worst affected businesses within the UK NTCE sector are nightclubs, with over 30% of the UKs clubs closing between June 2020 and June 2023, according to the cited report produced by CGA Neilson. ‘Of the data collected, 991 independent clubs were shown to be active in the UK in June 2020, down to just 649 in June 2023’ (Ross 2023), with 100 independent clubs having closed in the last 12 months.

As well as these businesses providing a livelihood for many people, including many young people, and significant economic benefit, it is also considered that the sector offers advantages to society in general, impacting positively on culture and community.

Research Convention
This event convention aims to examine challenges faced by the sector with a view to identifying possible solutions and, also to illuminate the wider impacts on society and culture.

We invite proposals from scholars from around the world for papers considering any aspect of the Night Time Cultural Economy. Topics and areas to examine might include but are not limited to:

• Impacts of night time economy on society, culture, and community.
• Direct and indirect impacts of policies and legislation, regional, national, or international, Brexit, transport policies, drug policies, economic policies, immigration policies, fitness for purpose of legal frameworks, et al), post-pandemic legacy, cost of living crisis, infrastructure, transportation, noise, property matters, and geographical impacts.
• Attitudes of policy makers internationally to the NTCE, and treatment by regulatory bodies such as local authorities, consequential manifestations, risk narratives, police resourcing, parity or bias (conscious or unconscious) towards the sector, or in comparison to other industries or within the wider NTE or OHLE.
• Case studies of effective, best practices and/ or problematic practices.
• Evolving attitudes of the general public to the Night Time Economy and management of those relationships/ public relations.
• Evolving consumer behaviours, demographics and market segmentation, new behaviours/ trends, nostalgia, competition for the leisure pound and leisure time, mode and manner and attitudes to alcohol consumption/ social drinking, et al.
• Employment, labour, skills, education, and development of workforce.
• Futures – the potential uses and impacts of new technologies to enhance experience including applications for AI, AR, VR.
• Diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility within the NTE.
• Environmental considerations, a greener future.

Please send proposals (max. 200 words) and short bio to: Ewa Mazierska – [email protected] and Tony Rigg – [email protected] by Monday 28 November 2023.

References
NTIA (2023). ‘Night Time Economy Report 2023’, February 2023, https://www.ndml.co.uk/articles/the-night-time-economy-report-2023, accessed 11 November 2023.

Ross, G. (2023). ‘Over 100 Independent Nightclubs Have Closed in the Last 12 Months, Study Shows’, 7 August 2023, https://mixmag.net/read/100-independent-uk-nightclubs-closed-12-months-study-ntia-report-news, accessed 11 November 2023.