Leah McArthur recently visited her local nightclub, and she couldn’t believe what she found when she got there. The dancefloor was not at all what she expected
A late night reveller has declared that “clubbing culture is dying” in the UK after sharing her recent experience of partying into the early hours.
Leah McArthur took to TikTok to showcase how busy – or not as the case was – in her local nightclub on a Friday night. “Are you ready?” she asked her 5,000 followers as she panned her camera around the dancefloor.
Whilst the DJ continued playing tunes regardless, a sole attendee could be seen in the entire room. “Proof that club culture is dying. RIP,” said Leah. Despite her modest following, more than 700,000 TikTok users tuned in, with thousands expressing their thoughts on the declining industry.
“1990-2010 we’re the golden years of clubbing,” one person reminisced. “If you missed it, you missed out.” A second shared: “I’d say 2009 – 2018 were the best years, for me anyway (32 now). I’m so glad I got to experience that.”
A third offered almost identical thoughts: “Literally girl! I’m 32 this year and I used to come home with more than I went out with. £30 would be drinks, taxi home and Maccies! The good days!”
Whilst a fourth person recalled: “Up until about 2014 it was great – phones/stories/filming every three seconds ruined it. And now the prices of drinks in the last few years are the final nail in the coffin.”
Others blamed finances and changes in habits on such poor turnouts, including one TikTok user who explained: “Club culture is dying because like everything else it’s become unaffordable, 7/8 a drink at best, 40 quid home in a taxi, another thing the government have now stole from the younger generation.”
Another agreed: “Clubs charging a tenner to even get in and then nearly 10 pound a drink. No one can afford that these days. That’s why.”
Someone else slammed: “Wages have been completely stagnant since 2008, no one has disposable income anymore for clubs/bars/pubs that are ridiculously overpriced.”
Meanwhile, a fourth individual pointed out: “Clubs have been dying for 25 years, licence laws allowed bars to stay open up to 2am and nightclubs couldn’t compete as opened 10pm-2am, charged £10/£15 plus smoking ban came in. Peoples habits changed.”
In October 2024, The Night Time Industries Association said 37% of clubs have been lost since March 2020 – three venues a week, or over 150 per year. It said that based on this data, the country faces losing all of its major nightclubs by the decade’s end.
The trade body has now launched The Last Night Out, a campaign created by McCann London to highlight the continued plight of the night-time economy.
McCann London’s campaign, a world of nightclub poster design, aims to raise awareness of continued nightclub closures whilst driving people through to a petition challenging the recently-elected Labour government to launch a Heritage Protection scheme, granting nightclubs targeted financial support and giving heritage clubs such as Fabric, Ministry of Sound & SubClub culturally protected status.
Michael Kill, CEO of the NTIA, said: “We are witnessing the systematic dismantling of the night-time economy. Our industry is not just about entertainment; it’s about identity, community, and the economy. Losing our clubs means losing jobs, culture, and a vital part of the UK’s social fabric.
