Party atmosphere fading at night clubs group

Published on Friday 25 September 2009 21:28

BRITAIN'S biggest nightclub operator, Luminar, yesterday warned that revenues were under pressure as more customers find themselves out of work.

The company, which runs the Oceana, Liquid and Lava & Ignite clubs, said sales fell 5.9 per cent in the 26 weeks to 27 August, with a further downturn in trading this month as weekend demand continues to disappoint.

Luminar blamed the fall on the rising level of unemployment in its core market. The jobless rate among those aged 18-24 is about one in six and closing in on the all-time high of 17.8 per cent set in March 1993 in the wake of the 1990s recession.

The sales slump up to the end of August was driven by a 6.6 per cent fall in drinks revenues, while footfall was down by 2.9 per cent and admission revenues off 0.2 per cent.

While competitors were driving business through discounted alcohol prices and all-you-can-drink offers, Luminar said it would stick by its offering of "higher quality content" to get customers to spend more. Despite this, Luminar warned there was a significant risk that it will not meet City profit expectations for the year.