Featured image: Maurício Mascaro

With the UK losing 67 clubs in 2024 and Gen Z being too consumed by wellness and running clubs to go out, there has been a lot of talk about the death of UK nightlife. Despite growing financial pressures, some industry professionals are innovating and managing to drag young 20-somethings out of their bedrooms and into the bars.

Max Trevett and Harry Kerrison are production assistants at Lab 54, an events company that hosts parties “anywhere but a club”. They’re not tied down to a permanent venue; instead, they look for anywhere “weird and wonderful” to bring to life. The name is a nod to the legendary Studio 54 in NYC, and they operate with the same goal of creating an inclusive space where people can be themselves totally and without prejudice.

Lab 54 started after the owner, Joe Gordon, threw a house party in Leeds’ student area that ended up going semi-viral on TikTok. Since then, they’ve gone on to transform kitchens, Greggs, and chicken shops across the country and overseas – hosting Rudimental on a boat in Sydney harbour last February.

When asked why they think traditional nightclubs are not seeing the same level of demand as them, they cite the rise of drink prices – but it’s not just that. Clubs have become boring. Max says: “It’s the same thing over and over again.” Whereas every Lab 54 event is different. A different venue with a different crowd and maybe a surprise artist you weren’t expecting.

Despite venturing almost as far out of the box as you can think, house parties are still their go-to. While clubs have become synonymous with spiking scandals and aggressive bouncers, this move separates them from that toxic culture. “When attending a massive club like Pryzm, you don’t know who’s working there or being let in – at a house party, the rules are dictated by the people in the house,” says Kerrison.

All of their house parties are BYOB and free to attend, with the tickets being distributed to the house owners on their Discord channel. They credit this method for helping them cultivate a community of party-goers, which has ensured that the demographic of their events tends to be positive, like-minded people. 

Wavelength is a group based here in Manchester that you can also find transforming the basements of Fallowfield into small-scale Boiler Room sets. Run by a group of friends who met during their time at Manchester Met, their goal is to bring people together with a shared love of house music and get everyone on the same ‘wavelength’.

From their bespoke LED sign to their sound system, the production value they bring ascends the typical cramped student gaff that’s fuelled by a Spotify playlist and a disco lamp, allowing guests to experience all of the positives of a rave without any of the formalities or the heavy price tag. They credit nostalgia as being behind some of their popularity with young people trying to replicate the excitement of high school-era get-togethers while craving something new.

Personality is present in every stage of their operation and they don’t let their big plans push them into being overly professional. Andre M explains: “What separates us from traditional clubs is us”. They follow a formula of irregular, one-off events at surprise locations and release the code to a secret website with all the details via Instagram DMs. If you want in, you might even face a riddle or maths problem before being able to gain access, adding a layer of exclusivity and establishing that they do things a little differently from the get go.

Co-owner of CGB international, Olivia Saunders, first entered into the events industry by throwing socials for University of Manchester’s African Caribbean society. She created the pop-up events company as a response to the disconnect between students that she saw among her peers post-lockdown. CGB’s approach is all about inclusion rather than division and it isn’t the place to flex on your peers by buying bottle service.

Olivia says: “We don’t think people deserve to have a better time than others based on how much money they’re spending.” They’re not obsessed with exclusivity, maintaining a strict dress code or obtaining VIP clientele, like many high-end Manchester institutions. Instead, they encourage comfortability, reassuring that people can ‘come in their tracksuits’ if it suits them.  

Championing women is also at the forefront of their mission and they make sure every lineup includes at least one female DJ. They involve women in every aspect of their process and highly publicise their zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behaviour in order to create a safe space free from hostility. 

More recently they’ve employed Guerilla marketing tactics and have mastered the TikTok algorithm in order to gain traction. But their ability to consistently sell out venues even just through word of mouth shows that young people can still be coaxed onto the dance floor and perhaps the answer is to leave them wanting more.

While the cost of living crisis is definitely making it harder for nightclubs to survive, the future of the Great British night out isn’t as bleak as it seems. It’s clear young people still have an appetite for partying and even in hard times, creative solutions will be dreamed up to fulfil this.