Lost in music How Britain's clubs are disappearing fast - and why they are worth rescuing

When the patrons of Watford's Przym nightclub celebrated New Year's Eve a year ago, they were marking the end of an era - or rather, seven eras.

- Rob Davies

When the patrons of Watford's Przym nightclub celebrated New Year's Eve a year ago, they were marking the end of an era - or rather, seven eras. Like every beloved local club, the venue had been known by multiple names over the years: Top Rank, Bailey's, Paradise Lost, Kudos, Destiny and Oceana. Now it will be reincarnated no more after failing to reach a deal with its landlord.

Matt Turmaine, the Labour MP for Watford, used to go dancing there in his younger days. "It's part of that cultural makeup, where you look back, maybe cringing a bit," he said, speculating that many of his constituents will have had their "first snog" on its dancefloor.

Britain's nightclub industry is in trouble as a result of cultural, economic and legislative factors that leading clubland figures say must be addressed before it is too late. The decline has been precipitous. In 2013, the UK had 1,700 nightclubs. By June 2024 there were fewer than half that number: just 787, according to figures from the analysts CGA by NIQ and AlixPartners, before a slight resurgence in recent months.

The Covid-19 pandemic, which in effect shut down the industry for months on end, accelerated the decline, putting paid to more than a third of Britain's clubs, the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has said. If the pace of decline continued, the NTIA warned, by 2030 there would be no clubs left.

Watford Pryzm was one of 17 venues that closed in early 2024 with the collapse into administration of Britain's biggest nightclub company, Rekom UK. Rekom's woes are a proxy for the woes of the broader sector. Before Covid, the business was known as Deltic, operating 52 bars and clubs and turning regular annual profits.

When the pandemic plunged the company into administration in late 2020, its underlying model remained attractive. Rekom, a Scandinavian nightlife group, made its move with a rescue deal.