One in five nightclubs across Scotland, England & Wales have closed since the first lockdown in March 2020.

The trade body representing the interests of night club owners says a perfect storm of corporate debt, rising household bills, and supply chain problems means the closures will continue.

I'll admit it is a while since I last stepped into a night club. Most are happy to pay me to remain outside!

But the long term trend is obvious. Gen X perhaps prefers to celebrate in pubs and at home saving themselves plenty of money into the bargain.

Night clubs have faced significant increases in operating costs such as business rents, wages and energy bills.

The shift towards home-working or hybrid home-office employment contracts has reduced the volume of occasions when an after-work pub visit has morphed into a night-club adventure.

And perhaps the days of rip-off drinks prices have played a role too. With real incomes falling, people of all ages are having to make tough choices over how to spend their hard-earned money. Much cheaper supermarket alcohol and improved home entertainment systems are proving hard to beat.