Nightclub visits among young people at all-time low, says new report

Nightclub visits among young people have dropped significantly, possibly due to a rising preference for late-night bars, a new report by advisory group Zolfo Cooper has found.

This may be due to young people opting to go out fewer times per month than previously, and becoming more likely to visit late-night bars rather than nightclubs when they do go out, the report suggests.

Women are less likely to visit than men, going just 1.5 times a month.

The average spend per person in clubs has stayed similar, however, from £26.65 "per night" this year compared with £26.70 in 2012, as has the trend for consumers to arrive late at nightclubs: 58% of nightclub visitors arrive at 11pm or later.

Zolfo Cooper partner and head of corporate finance Paul Hemming suggested that the key 18 to 34 age group could be snubbing nightclubs for "good late-night bars", and that people who had grown up around the Licensing Act 2003 - which allowed licensed venues to supply late-night alcohol â€' now saw nightclubs as "less of a priority".

"The younger generation are rejecting the 'big box' nightclub experience. If you only have the funds to go clubbing once or twice a month then you will only go to the 'best' venues."

He added: "Nightclubs have to offer a better experience to attract the younger generation."

The report also showed that people are failing to keep track of the amount of units they drink, with 71% saying they do not count their units. The over-55s were most likely to count (27%) compared with the 18-34, of which just 14% "unite count".

The report backs up other studies into the nightclub sector, with a Mintel report from June this year also suggesting that consumers were eschewing clubs in favour of late-night bars, a trend that had seen revenue for the sector drop from £1.8b in 2007 to £1.3b in 2012.

Bars push nightclub sector to shrink by a third in five years >>