Nightclubs are disappearing – and it’s affecting young people

Under-30s have described missing out on being able to “let loose and mess around” because of a “bleak” lack of nightlife where they live.

Henry Gannon said that growing up in Woking he had seen places for young people to gather and socialise “die away”.

“Communal areas just seem to have vanished,” he added.

Woking once had multiple late-night venues – now it does not have any traditional dedicated nightclubs left in the town centre.

Gannon blamed the situation on the cost of living crisis, which he said was “pricing out” those in their 20s from enjoying themselves.

“There isn’t really anything to do for younger people who often don’t have much expendable income,” he said.

Alternative options, the 23-year-old added, were “Wetherspoons, sitting in the park or getting a prohibitively expensive taxi back from another town or city”.

“I feel like I am missing out on a crucial part of being my age, which is being able to let loose, mess around and enjoy life.

“It’s a bit bleak.”

A quarter of UK towns have lost all their nightclubs, the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) said in 2025.

It added that one in six towns have no late-night venues left.

“These figures are a stark warning of the systematic erosion of Britain’s nightlife infrastructure,” said NTIA CEO Michael Kill.

“We are facing a national cultural crisis.

“The damage, as we see it, is increasingly irreversible. Once these venues disappear, they rarely return.”