Blogs
Britain has always been rather conservative in terms of its night time culture compared to other parts of Europe.
When Brits are coming home from an evening meal out or some drinks in the pub, the Spaniards are just getting ready to go out and the Greeks are still wandering in and out of shops. A campaign by
VisitEngland has been trying to change all that and get the
hospitality industry to make more of the night time economy. As well as allowing for more revenue, it is aimed at reclaiming the time of day which sometimes has negative connotations for not being safe.
Guidelines have been drawn up entitled 'The Evening and Night Time Economy', designed to help businesses open up later and make the most of evening trade. Like with everything else at the moment it seems that the initiative has been spurred on by
the Olympics, when shops, bars and restaurants all enjoyed longer opening hours.
James Berresford, the chief executive of VisitEngland, said: "The night time economy offers us a huge opportunity to grow
tourism in England and make our cities and towns some of the most exciting in the world."
Opening up later does offer the potential for businesses to make extra money, but it is a good idea that they seek the advice found in the new guidelines. Later hours do have practical considerations to take into consideration, such as security, but also what the establishment will offer. Is the aim to offer the same services and products as during the day, or does the business want to branch out into something which is more suited to the evening?
It is not unknown for quaint cafes to become sophisticated cocktail bars later in the evening, while still maintaining a certain amount of charm. Diversifying offerings in the evening could allow any type of business to tap into a niche in the market, as not everyone who is awake at 1am wants to go clubbing.
For examples of how this has been done well,
business owners should look towards the continent.
