Unveiled earlier this week by the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and night-time economy adviser Sacha Lord, the blueprint proposes a raft of measures aimed at supporting late-night venues in the city.
It also contains a series of goals that Burnham and Lord have pledged to achieve by April 2020, which include gaining a greater understanding of night-time travel in the city and how it can be improved, and testing the viability of allowing hospitality businesses to stay open later whilst ensuring the safety of employees at night.
The notion of the blueprint comes after the Greater Manchester area saw respective 27% and 14% drops in the number of nightclubs and pubs between 2010 and 2017, and follows a series of consultations – carried out by Lord – across the city with workers, customers, operators, local authorities and other key stakeholders.
“It is encouraging to see the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Mayor Andy Burnham prioritise the importance of the late-night sector and work towards boosting it,” says Kate Nicholls, chief executive for UKHospitality.
“Greater Manchester has a fantastic nightlife thanks, in part, to major investment by hospitality businesses. It is one of the most exciting and diverse in the country and it is great to see policy-makers understand the value the sector brings to the region.”
Nicholls adds that the announcement shows that the Greater Manchester Combined Authority understands the importance of the late-night hospitality sector, and says other towns and cities in the UK should follow suit; appointing ‘night czars’ and publishing local night-time strategies – with input from businesses – in order to promote late-night hospitality in every region of the UK.
“We need more local authorities who “get” what we do and the early signs from Manchester are positive,” she says.