Your say / Nighttime Economy
‘The council cannot turn its back on Bristol’s nightlife’
At the beating heart of Bristol is its cultural scene.
It attracts people from all over the world to visit or make the city their home. It provides opportunities for Bristol’s existing communities to come together, to showcase everything there is to offer.
Whether it is the city’s brilliant festivals, culinary delights, famous artists and the street art scene, watching balloons across Bristol’s landscape, or the many bars, clubs and live music venues; there is something for everyone.
I’ve made this city my home for almost two decades. I’ve worked in bars, organised live music gigs and attended many of the city’s fantastic festivals too.
I have felt so fortunate to be able to enjoy what so many work so hard to create and deliver, so that Bristol can continue to enjoy its vibrant international reputation.
It takes collective effort and partnership to keep the show on the road.
In September 2025, I couldn’t have been happier to back the proposal to establish the Bristol Music Fund, a new community benefit society, owned by its members to support Bristol music well into the future.
The one per cent ticket levy could raise between £400,00 and £1m annually to back our grassroots music scene.
It is also why I was delighted to recently get along to the celebration of the reopening of the Croft, now in community ownership.
Grassroots live music venues are something we must do everything we can to fight to keep, so the next wave of big hitters that will hail from Bristol can have that opportunity to shine and make their mark.
Long live the Croft! – photo: World Famous Dive Bars
Bristol’s night time economy is an economic powerhouse. The sector contributes over £510m annually in spend and supports more than 116,000 jobs, about 41 per cent of the city’s jobs.
The music sector, a core component within it, sees over £42m spent on tickets to events. When travel, merchandise, food and drink are factored in, that figure heads north of £273m.
For the last few years, the Bristol Nights partnership has sat at the heart of this city’s work to champion and strengthen it.
Under the last Labour administration, it evolved from the Bristol @ Night 2018 advisory board to the establishment of Bristol Nights in 2021.
With an impactful night time economy advisor role at its centre, the partnership has delivered projects that have been nationally and internationally recognised, such as the Women’s Safety Charter, Thrive at Night and harm reduction programmes.
This has positioned Bristol as a leader in the promoting nightlife settings with safety and inclusivity at its heart.
In late 2024, Bristol Nights won Best Night Time Economy Initiative at the International Music Cities Awards for its Women’s Safety Charter campaign, which promotes a zero-tolerance approach to harassment in music and night time venues.
Originally launched in March 2022, is a seven-point code of commitments aimed at helping venues and night time businesses address harassment and discrimination.
Signing up to the charter demonstrates an organisation’s commitment to a zero-tolerance approach to all types of harassment, including sexual harassment and gender-based violence.
This was not the first time it had won such a prestigious award either, as Bristol Rules won in 2021 too. The Stop Spiking campaign has been cited in national guidance from the Local Government Association and the UK’s first mental health initiative for night workers, Thrive at Night, is shining a light on something that isn’t talked about nearly enough.
For 15 years in a row, the city has also held the Purple Flag award. Devised by the Association of Town & City Management, it is designed to raise the standards and broaden the appeal of town and city centres between the hours of 5pm and 5am and represents the gold standard for a city’s night-time economy.
It is a testament to all those working in and with the sector that we continue to hold this prestigious award.
The Bristol Rules campaign offers advice and support to those enjoying a night out – photo: Plaster
As the sector have said in an open letter, “removing the role of the night time economy advisor and mothballing the initiative means fragmentation, reduced safety collaboration, loss of sector confidence, and reflects a deprioritisation of nightlife at the council”.
This sits as part of a broader pattern of attacks on the city’s cultural sector over the last two years.
A failed attempt was made to sell off to the highest bidder our award-winning film studios, the Bottle Yard Studios in Hengrove, in a move that has left the taxpayer on the hook for £430,000.
Council funding for the Cultural Investment Programme was also set to be scrapped altogether, until an improved national funding settlement allowed for this to be reversed.
Bravas on Cotham Hill has also had to fight a lengthy battle with the council to keep its outdoor seating.
I agree with every word of the open letter more than 100 people involved in Bristol’s night time economy have published.
Politicians have been more than happy to turn up for the photos and have quotes in the press releases celebrating the successes of the cultural sector of this city, off the backs of significant work from others.
It is now time for the city’s leadership, including the council’s leader Tony Dyer, to show its commitment to playing its part in the thriving nightlife of this city.
The night time economy advisor role that has brought so much success needs to continue and the Green-led council’s damaging decision to end the Bristol Nights initiative must be reversed.
This is an opinion piece by Tom Renhard, leader of Bristol’s Labour group of councillors
Main photo: Martin Booth
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