Your say / Nighttime Economy
‘People don’t come to Bristol for quiet evenings and early nights’
Bristol has always been a city that stays up late.
It’s part of who we are. Music venues, late-night pubs, bars, clubs, festivals and independent operators have built a reputation that travels far beyond the city limits.
People don’t come to Bristol for quiet evenings and early nights. They come for culture, creativity and nightlife.
That ecosystem doesn’t just happen by accident. It’s built by thousands of people working unsociable hours to create spaces where others can come together: bartenders, DJs, promoters, security teams, venue managers, cleaners, brewers, musicians and countless others.
And right now, that ecosystem is under serious pressure.
Hospitality across the UK is sailing into a perfect storm: rising energy costs, increased taxation, higher wage bills, supply chain pressures and a cost-of-living crisis that affects our customers as much as it affects us.
Margins are tighter than they’ve ever been and against that backdrop, local government support matters.
Under the previous Labour administration, Bristol made real progress in recognising the importance of the nighttime economy.
The appointment of a night time economy advisor, the development of initiatives like Bristol Nights, the Stop Spiking campaign and wider harm-reduction and safety work showed that the city understood something important: nightlife isn’t a problem to be managed; it’s an asset to be supported.
That’s why the recent news that the role of night time economy advisor has been made redundant – and that funding for initiatives like Stop Spiking and Bristol Nights has been withdrawn – is so concerning.
These weren’t vanity projects. They were practical programmes that made Bristol safer and stronger.
They helped venues collaborate with the council, police, and community groups. They supported harm-reduction efforts. They demonstrated that Bristol was serious about building a safe, vibrant, responsible nightlife economy.
Removing that support at a time when the sector is already under enormous strain sends the wrong signal.
Speaking personally, I expected something different.
The Green Party has often presented itself as a progressive political movement – one that understands community, culture and the importance of grassroots economies.
Bristol’s nightlife sector embodies those values. It is overwhelmingly independent, creative and community-driven.
So it’s difficult to understand why, at a moment when the industry needs partnership more than ever, the city appears to be stepping back.
Let’s also be clear about something else: nightlife isn’t just about money. In fact, right now, it’s often not about money at all.
Anyone operating venues in the current climate will tell you that margins are incredibly tight. Many of us are keeping places open not because they are wildly profitable, but because they are culturally important to the communities around them.
A good example of that is the Croft.
The Croft is one of Bristol’s most iconic grassroots music venues. Recently it faced the very real risk of disappearing.
Working alongside the community, artists, and local supporters, we were able to help bring the venue back into community ownership and reopen it so that it could continue serving Bristol’s music scene.
That wasn’t about maximising profit. It was about protecting something culturally important to our city.
This is the reality of nightlife in Bristol today. Many operators are acting as stewards of cultural spaces, not just businesses chasing financial returns.
If nightlife was judged purely on financial metrics in the current climate, many venues simply would not exist.
And that’s exactly why partnership and support from the city matters.
Because if nightlife is left entirely to market forces in the current environment, we won’t just see struggling businesses; we’ll see empty streets after dark. We’ll see venues closing. We’ll see cultural spaces disappear.
And Bristol would lose a massive part of what makes it Bristol.
No one in the industry is asking for special treatment. What we are asking for is recognition and partnership.
Bristol has long been a national leader in thinking about the nighttime economy. It would be a huge mistake to step away from that role now.
So this is not just a criticism. It’s an invitation.
It’s an invitation for Bristol City Council to reconsider this direction. An invitation to engage directly with the people who run the city’s venues and events.
And an invitation to work together on a plan that protects both public safety and Bristol’s cultural life after dark.
Because once a nightlife ecosystem disappears, it is incredibly hard to rebuild.
Bristol deserves better than that.
This is an opinion piece by Marc Griffiths, director of World Famous Dive Bars whose venues include the Croft, the Colosseum and the Mothers’ Ruin
Main photo: Martin Booth
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