24 Hour London

Creating a city that’s always open

The Mayor, Sadiq Khan is building a 24 hour London

Sadiq appointed a ‘Night Czar’ to make London’s night-time economy even better – the writer, broadcaster, DJ, performer and campaigner Amy Lamé.

London is the biggest city in the world to appoint a Night Czar, and Amy’s appointment comes after the hugely successful creation of night-time mayors in other cities across the globe from Amsterdam and Berlin, to San Francisco.

Now, London has a huge opportunity to become the number one global destination for 24-hour culture and entertainment.

London's first Night Czar: Amy Lame

"I can’t wait to hit the streets and have loads of ideas of what I can do for revellers, night-time workers, businesses and stakeholders. For too long, the capital’s night-time industry has been under pressure - music venues and nightclubs in particular are closing at an alarming rate."

Amy Lame

Night Czar Announcements:

Monthly night surgeries

I'm holding a series of monthly ‘night surgeries’, where I visit different locations across the London speaking directly to businesses, night time workers, members of the public and residents to get an understanding of your views of the night time economy.

Read about one of my surgeries or sign up to my newsletter to get monthly updates.

Next night surgeries:

TBA

Previous Night Surgeries:

- Havering Night Surgery 23 February 2017

- Night Overground Surgery 15 December 2017

- Wimbledon Night Surgery 1 December 2017

- Southwark Night Surgery 24 November 2017

- Night Czar x Security Industry Association (SIA) Surgery 12 October 2017

- Waltham Forest and Hackney Night Surgery 10 March 2017

- Croydon Tour 9 February 2017

- Kingston Police Walkabout 3 February 2017

- Piccadilly Night Tube Surgery 16 December 2016

Read London's first ever 24-hour London vision

This vision sets out the Mayor’s plan to turn London into a leading 24-hour global city, it focuses on building a night-time culture which:

  • promotes culture and leisure for all ages and interests
     
  • increases opening hours
     
  • ensures safety for residents
     
  • visitors and night-time workers
     
  • works closely with boroughs and the police to create a balanced and sustainable night time offer

The Mayor has already launched the first ever Night Tube service at weekends and he also has plans to protect pubs, music venues, LGBT+ venues.

Using this vision, Chair of Night Time Commission Philip Kolvin QC and Night Czar Amy Lamé will now work with industry experts on bringing the vision to life.

What is the night-time economy?

Mayor Sadiq Khan wants to make London a 24-hour city that’s open to all.

Our restaurants, theatres, cinemas, music venues, clubs, and bars are world famous and a huge attraction for everyone who lives or works here. They also attract millions of international visitors each year.

Our cultural scene can lay claim to being the birthplace of musical theatre, electronic music and immersive theatre.

London’s night-time economy is also a big earner and big employer. It brings in £26.3 billion to the economy every year and supports 1 in 8 of the city’s jobs.

And did we mention the Night Tube and our brilliant night buses? New 24-hour Night Tube services are opening up new opportunities for Londoners and will create around 2,000 permanent jobs and boost the city’s economy by £360 million.

London has a good night out to offer to everyone – and a safe journey home when it’s time for bed.

The challenge

As London grows our city has to adjust to new challenges. New housing, transport and infrastructure is creating new challenges for our night-time economy and there is also increased demand for a broader night-time culture and entertainment offer.

We need someone to help us navigate these challenges and bring the right people together to help solve them – the Night Czar.

Music to London's ears

The music industry is worth an incredible £4.1bn to the UK's economy. It also brings an extra £3.7bn in music tourism. This is going to grow over the next few years. Yet the UK has lost half of its nightclubs and since 2007 London has lost 35% of live music venues.

Sadiq has promised to protect London’s live music venues, clubs and pubs. He plans to bring in a new ‘Agent of Change’ rule. This means new developments near existing venues must meet soundproofing costs. In January he published a new report that shows signs of recovery for London’s grassroots music venues.