Best and worst areas for a night out according to science are revealed – is your town on the list?
A POPULAR seaside town has been revealed to be the best place for a night out, according to science.
Brighton, on England’s south coast, has been named as the place to go for party people, according to new research.
The picturesque city of Bath came in second place while York was third in the Night Out Index compiled by the public consultancy Public First.
Languishing at the bottom though was Slough with Basildon the second worst and Bracknell third.
The Index measured the size of the night time economy across more than 100 major towns and cities in England and Wales.
When it comes to having a vibrant nightlife the research there was more to it than just a simple North-South or even a rich-poor divide.
Towns around London, such as Bracknell and High Wycombe, score relatively poorly on the Index, while places in the North such as Wakefield and Halifax – the latter garnering a reputation as “the Shoreditch of the North” – score well. The UK’s second city by population, Birmingham, comes out poorly in the Index, with both the city itself and several towns surrounding it having relatively low Night Out Index scores.
The Index also looked at the change in nightlife activities over the past 10 years between 2012 and 2022.
Leeds, Liverpool and Halifax lead the way with around a 20 per cent increase in the per capita number of night time establishments.
Meanwhile, Rochdale, Mansfield and Dudley have seen the biggest declines in the Night Out Index over the same period, -29.3 per cent, -28.3 per cent and -27.8 per cent respectively.
Just under half – 46 per cent – of major towns and cities in England and Wales have seen an improvement in nightlife over the past decade, according to the figures while the remainder – 54 per cent – have seen a deterioration.
For major cities like London, there are also significant variations in how the night time economy is holding up in different parts of the city.
While trendy Hackney’s night life has boomed over the past decade – with the Night Out Index for London borough increasing by 76 per cent between 2012 and 2022, the City of London has seen the biggest fall, down 16 per cent.
The City has been particularly exposed to the rise in hybrid and remote working since the coronavirus pandemic, which has seriously dented footfall in the area on Fridays.
However, the Index warned that the City of London’s figure was distorted by the area’s low resident population, which gives it a very high number of pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants relative to who lives in the area.
The research comes at a time when the night time economy is under pressure due to the cost of living crisis, rising energy bills and reduced footfall in some cities with the rise of remote working, and changing consumer preferences.
The research also noted the night time economy was changing rather than dying which a huge shift towards eating out rather than just drinking out.
Since 2012, the number of pubs and bars in the UK has fallen by 10 per cent while the number of licensed clubs has declined by 28 per cent.
In total this represents a decline of about 7,000 establishments across the country.
However, the number of licensed restaurants has increased by 30 per cent, amounting to 8,700 new places for eating out.
The report notes that one driver of this shift is the growing share of young adults abstaining from alcohol.
Scott Corfe, director in the data and modelling team at Public First, said: “Our Night Out Index reveals big differences in the health of the night time economy in different parts of the country, as well as some major changes in the make-up of the night time economy with the shift towards restaurants.
“It’s encouraging to see the night time economy contributing to ‘levelling up’ in the North of England, particularly with the greatly improved nightlife scenes in Leeds, Liverpool and Halifax over the past decade.
“However, with the Night Out Index declining in over half of towns and cities over the past decade, much needs to be done to strengthen the night time economy elsewhere.”
Mike Crowhurst, director at Public First and head of its Levelling Uppractice, said: “Our Night Out Index is a reminder that ‘levelling up’ is about the quality of life people enjoy, as well as how they work, travel and learn.
“Local leadership and investment in arts, culture and hospitality have helped make some of our Northern towns and cities much more attractive places to live, but others have fallen behind.
“As the night time economy evolves, action is needed to arrest the growing divides between our towns and cities and ensure people across the country have access to a great night out.”