Here’s why
The latest Deltic Night Index reveals the positive impact of the evening and late-night leisure industry on employment, including the role it plays in equipping young people with essential skills.
Headline findings:
- More Brits are going on a night out at least once a week compared to the previous quarter (43.2 per cent compared to last period’s 37.2 per cent)
- Average spend on late night leisure is down 3.5 per cent on the last quarter to £53.63 from £55.56
- On average respondents that worked in the evening and late-night leisure sector did so for more than four years, and 21 per cent worked in the industry for more than seven years
- 72.8 per cent acquired more skills than they were expecting, 36.5 per cent believe there are less barriers to promotion than in other industries and 34.1 per cent found there were more career development opportunities than they were expecting
- Over a third (34.1 per cent) of people said that the industry has more career development opportunities and training opportunities (34.3 per cent) than they initially expected
Of the respondents who have worked in the evening or late-night leisure industry, 64.9 per cent entered the industry between the ages of 16 and 20 and they stayed, on average, for more than four years.
One of the top reasons respondents gave for working in the evening and late-night leisure industry was, perhaps unsurprisingly, to earn money when at school or college (48.8 per cent), closely followed by 43 per cent who liked that the hours suited their lifestyle, and nearly 35 per cent who saw it as a fun and sociable environment in which to work.
Only 11.9 per cent chose to work in the industry because they believed it would equip them with key skills that they could use throughout their working life.
Yet, as this latest research demonstrates, a staggering 72.8 per cent of those that have worked in the industry said that they acquired more skills than they were expecting.
A whopping four fifths (81 per cent) said they developed communication skills through working in the industry, 74.8 per cent felt they learnt how to work under pressure and 69.2 per cent learnt how to deal with difficult situations.
In addition, 65.5 per cent learnt how to multi-task, 63.7 per cent learnt how to work with different people, and 62.7 per cent learnt how to work effectively in a team.
It’s not just soft skills that employees benefited from. Almost a third (29.8 per cent) felt they developed management skills, over a quarter (25.2 per cent) developed negotiating skills, and a fifth (20.6 per cent) developed operational skills.
Peter Marks, chief executive of The Deltic Group said: “Our sector is a unique one, so it’s great to see that so many people that have felt the benefits of working in the industry. Yet the data clearly shows that the sector needs to be doing more to educate people about the varied and exciting career opportunities that we have to offer.
“I’ve always talked about the wider benefits of the late-night economy, from job creation to its positive impact on the UK’s high streets. But this latest data demonstrates the role it plays in equipping people with vital skills for working life, and is further evidence of the far reaching positive impact of the evening and late-night economy.”
The research also revealed a disparity between the perceptions and reality of having a career in the industry:
- 36.5 per cent believe there are less barriers to promotion than in other industries
- 34.3 per cent found there were more training opportunities than they were expecting
- 34.1 per cent found there were more career development opportunities than they were expecting
- 60.5 per cent found it was a more sociable environment than they were expecting;
- 62.5 per cent said it was harder work than they expected
- 45.4 per cent said it is a more professionally run environment than they were expecting
- 60.7 per cent of those that worked in the industry would recommend it to young people to develop essential work experience
This is the fourth Deltic Night Index, a quarterly report published by late night leisure leader The Deltic Group. The report looks at changing consumer behaviours in the UK’s evening and late-night leisure sector, which encompasses clubbing, drinking and eating out, cinema and live music amongst others.
Overall, spending on evening and late-night leisure is down 3.5 per cent on the last quarter to £53.63, from £55.56 (May 2017 – Jul 2017, compared to Feb 2017 – Apr 2017). Despite this, spend on drinks in the venue has risen over the three-month period of almost 4 per cent, bringing the total to £17.99.
Once again, the Great British pub was the most popular night out1 activity with over a quarter (25.8 per cent) of people choosing to spend the most money on this activity each month. Clubs saw an increase of almost three per cent, and bars also were more favoured than last quarter, increasing more than 4 per cent to 15.9 per cent.
The next Deltic Night Index, which will be released in November, will be the first to show year on year data.
Marks continued: “Although overall spend has declined, it is encouraging to see people opting to spend more on drinks in venues rather than on pre-drinks. In addition to this, more Brits are going out at least once a week than in the last quarter, and during the sunnier and dryer months, we tend to see more people choosing to take public transport and in my experience, eat lighter meals which would also explain the overall decline.”
The report surveyed 2,591 18+ year olds across the UK. This included 2,076 respondents who go on nights out, 509 18 to 21-year olds and 504 people that have worked in the late-night leisure industry.
[1]A night out is defined as anything from 6pm to 6am, where the majority of the night is spent out past 10pm
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