When are clubs reopening in London

Recently Mr Johnson made surprising announcements about London’s nightlife industry. Mr Johnson gave a nod to the industry saying that there will be measures designed to gradually lift the stay at home order without threatening the downturn in coronavirus cases. Clubs will be able to reopen testing those in the queue for Covid-19 with rapid turnaround lateral flow tests. Even though this could be a logistical nightmare to most of the club owners, that, combined with vaccination, will probably be the way to go. Mr Johnson also ruled out the possibility of vaccine passports as a way of managing big crowds at entertainment venues.

Planning a special night out in Barcelona can be surprisingly complicated when you are travelling with a group. Where should you have dinner? Which nightclub should you visit? How will everyone get from one place to another? And, most importantly, who is going to drive? These are exactly the kind of questions that make limousine rental in Barcelona an increasingly popular option for birthdays, bachelor and bachelorette parties, weddings, corporate events and nights out with friends.

One of the funniest things about group celebrations is how rarely the original plan survives the evening. A group might decide to have dinner at 9 pm, visit a cocktail bar afterwards and arrive at a nightclub before midnight. Then somebody suggests another bar, someone else wants to stop for photographs and suddenly the carefully organised schedule has disappeared. With a private limousine and chauffeur, changing plans is much easier because everyone can stay together and enjoy the journey between locations.

Barcelona is also a fantastic city for travelling around in a limousine because many of the most popular entertainment areas are relatively close to each other. You could begin with dinner in the city centre, continue towards the beachfront for drinks and then head to a nightclub without having to organise several taxis. For visitors who are unfamiliar with Barcelona, having a professional driver can also make the evening much simpler, particularly when moving around with a larger group.

Another advantage of limousine hire in Barcelona is that the vehicle can become part of the celebration itself. Birthday groups often use the journey to take photographs, play music, chat with friends and enjoy a few drinks before arriving at their next destination. Instead of treating transportation as a boring part of the evening, the journey becomes another opportunity to have fun together.

It is particularly popular for milestone birthdays and special celebrations. Turning 18, 21, 30, 40 or 50 deserves something different from an ordinary night at a bar. The same applies to bachelor and bachelorette parties, where the group may want to visit several places during the evening while keeping everyone together. Weddings and corporate events can also benefit from private chauffeur-driven transport, especially when guests need to travel between hotels, restaurants and event venues.

Of course, there are also plenty of unexpected moments. Someone may suddenly remember they left their phone at the hotel, a restaurant reservation might take longer than expected, or the group may decide that they want to visit one more place before going home. Having private transportation gives you much more flexibility when the evening inevitably takes an unexpected turn.

For anyone looking for limousine hire in Barcelona, the experience is therefore about much more than simply getting from A to B. It is a convenient way to keep a group together, avoid parking and transport problems a

What are the rules on London’s nightlife?

Unlike pubs and restaurants that have reopened, London nightclubs have been closed since the first Covid lockdown in March 2020. But luckily for the scene, Mr Johnson announced that on 21st June the government hopes to reopen nightclubs and lift restrictions on certain events. It is great news for the industry - if clubs in England can survive until then. Nightclubs are one of the few businesses that have been forced to close for the entirety of the Covid crisis after restrictions were first introduced last March. By the time June comes around, they will have been closed for 15 months. The entire night time industry - which contributes £66bn to the UK economy - has been hit hard by the country's many lockdowns. 

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night-Time Industries Association, says that by the time clubs can reopen, there will be between 40% and 50% fewer operating in the UK compared to a pre-Covid total of 1,446 venues.

Will this absolutely happen?

Mr Johnson has said more than once that the decision of easing measures are based on the data showing the decrease in Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations. He assured that the UK government is led by data and not dates. In order to roll out the lockdown easing, Mr Johnson has included 4 different tests:

• The success of the vaccine programme

• Evidence showing that vaccines are effective in decreasing the numbers of hospitalizations and deaths in those vaccinated

• Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations

• The assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of the virus

It is not guaranteed that clubs will reopen since removing restrictions depends on many other factors, such as the continuing success of the Covid vaccine programme and avoiding a surge in hospitalisations.

Will it be possible to dance in the nightclubs?

Some club owners have expressed their concerns about dancing in London clubs. When clubs were open you could have 1,000 people dancing together but right now this is everyone’s nightmare. Club owners are worried they will not be able to control social distancing on the dance floor and to control the number of guests in order to have fewer people on the dance floor will have some cost implications. If you limit the number of people you can't put as much money into the production, into the artists and talent.

Industry fears for its post-Covid future

Before Coronavirus nightclub owners in London were already experiencing challenges as their main guests began to focus more on health and IG. Daytime parties were gaining popularity and the number of clubs had already shrunk by 21%. On top of this, the world was shocked by the Covid pandemic and the entertainment industry was one of the first sectors to be shut by the government and is one of few to have barely reopened since. For the clubs themselves and those who work in them, the effects of the pandemic have been devastating. Each week around 40 night-time businesses have shut for good. Even though June 21 is the potential reopening date, no one knows yet what restrictions will be imposed on clubs when they finally open. 

Despite the many concerns, those nightclubs which have survived are confident that when they reopen, customers will come flooding back.