London Mayor Sadiq Khan has launched the city’s first-ever Nightlife Taskforce, a group of 11 individuals who will aim to guide the local government on how it can help nightlife flourish.
The team is made up of fabric co-founder Cameron Leslie (who will chair the group); Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) CEO Michael Kill; PXSSY PALACE founder Nadine Noor; Music Venues Trust external affairs manager Sophie Brownlee; Corsica Studios head of operations Alice Hoffmann-Fuller; UK Hospitality CEO Kate Nicholls; Broadwick Live head of operations Sam Spencer; Colour Factory founder Nathanael Williams; DJ, radio host and promoter Lily London; Daytimers founder Provhat Rahman; and Fuller, Smith & Turner communications manager Georgina Wald. Fold co-founder Seb Glover had also been due to be part of the team, but reportedly decided against joining shortly before the launch due to other commitments.
The taskforce will first spend the next six months assessing the challenges currently facing nightlife in London, before then putting forward recommendations to the Mayor’s office.
Launching the Nightlife Taskforce, Khan said that the group’s collective “expertise and unparalleled knowledge garnered from years of working across a range of nighttime industries” would ensure success. “The rising cost of living and operational costs, shifts in consumer behaviour, staffing shortages and licensing issues have all been hitting businesses hard,” he continued. “I’m determined to do all I can to work alongside our nighttime industries.”
While Leslie caveated that the team “cannot wave a magic wand” to solve all of London nightlife’s problems, he hoped that “we can put forward something meaningful by which all stakeholders and individuals who genuinely want to see London’s vibrant nighttime economy thrive and grow can then get behind”.
The Nightlife Taskforce has been set up in place of London’s ‘night czar’ role after Amy Lamé, who was the first to ever get the job, stood down last October.
