From the end of September, anyone entering a nightclub or other venue where large crowds gather in the UK will need to show a vaccine passport. These will be displayed either via the NHS phone app, or via a paper NHS COVID Pass letter.
Within the nightclub sector, however, many fear the approaching regulations may push them beyond a tipping point.
“80 percent of nightclubs have said they do not want to implement COVID passports,” noted Michael Kill, chief executive officer of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA).
Kill cites concerns that punters will simply go elsewhere, and that venues may struggle with staffing.
“This new policy is devastating” said Nicholls “and risks hitting these fragile businesses and derailing their recovery and costing thousands of jobs,” expressed UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls.
With many venues remaining closed and not bringing in any revenue since March 2020, the nightclub industry finds itself in one of the most precarious situations of any UK business sector.
Contributing some £66 billion per year to the UK economy, a recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Night Time Economy found that ‘Without urgent government support, nightlife businesses face ‘extinction’ that will see urban centres become ‘ghost towns’ and hobble wider economic recovery.’
