The Mayor of London has outlined plans to”protect and manage” the city’s night time economy
Boris Johnson recently commissioned research into London’s night time economy. Currently it is estimated that 1.3 million people work in London’s many night time industries to an estimated worth of £66 billion a year. The report, commisioned by the Night Time Industries Association, says the six-month long investigation will look into “what should be done to protect and manage the nighttime economy,” and “make recommendations about measures to support the nighttime economy.”
“There is no doubt that the nighttime economy is hugely important to our prosperity and the life of our city, but there is insufficient oversight for the way it is managed and problems are mitigated,” says Johnson. “It is brilliantly successful, but nighttime activities can be seen as causes of noise and nuisance, whilst businesses complain that rising property values, the need for housing, licensing requirements and other red tape are damaging their operations, even leading to closures. If we are to compete against other world cities it is vital that we develop policies to reconcile the competing needs and concerns.”
The commission will release its findings in autumn of this year.
