New Year profits up for Gloucester’s clubland
NIGHTCLUBS had a bumper night of business on New Year's Eve with violent incidents in the city centre also down on last year.
A shift in New Year mentality among revellers seems to have taken hold, with more people choosing to party at home.
Eastgate Street remained the focus of party-goers with bars and clubs reporting a boost in profits over Christmas and New Year.
Liquid nightclub drafted in stilt walkers and fire breathers to make sure New Year's Eve went off with a bang.
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General manager Andy Maclachlan said the night was busy, but trouble free proving the perfect combination for profits.
"Last year was pretty flat but this New Year's Eve was around 25 per cent up," he said.
"It's good news for us, particularly as there was less trouble than last year too.
"There is usually a spike in incidents after midnight but that wasn't the case this year."
Butlers also recorded an 18 per cent increase in trade on last year with no police attendance on New Year.
Rich Payne, manager of Zest in Eastgate Street said his bar was busy, but also trouble free.
"We had around 1500 in on New Years Eve and were at capacity by midnight. I have been here for 12 years and it is normal to have to call the police out, it can be an unpleasant night to work. But there were no incidents at our place and that was encouraging."
The Eastgate Street policing team recorded a drop in violent assaults on the night.
PC Mark Mansfield from the Gloucester City safer partnership team said trouble shifted to residential areas of Gloucester on New Year's Eve.
"There seemed to be a shift in culture this year," he said. "Although it was still quite busy and there were several assaults, it was less than previous years.
"There was more disorder in residential areas so it looks as though people were staying at home to celebrate the New Year instead.
"We're not sure why, it may be due to financial reasons."
PC Mansfield was at the heart of a campaign to remove a bus shelter from outside Liquid to improve visibility for CCTV cameras in the area.
"The bus shelter was the focus for a lot of disorder as people migrated from the clubs to the takeaways," he added.
"Now it has been removed it has made a big difference and has had a positive impact, making our jobs easier."
The NightSafe group of community representatives are meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) to discuss further improvements to safety at night in the city.
Group chair, city councillor Jennie Dallimore said: "We will have a general overview of what has been happening over the busy Christmas period and getting feedback from clubs to learn any lessons."
Comments
by Apothegm_
Monday, January 07 2013, 3:49PM
“" PC Mansfield was at the heart of a campaign to remove a bus shelter from outside Liquid to improve visibility for CCTV cameras in the area.
"The bus shelter was the focus for a lot of disorder as people migrated from the clubs to the takeaways," he added.
"Now it has been removed it has made a big difference and has had a positive impact, making our jobs easier." "
So, yet again, the ordinary people of Gloucester have to suffer during almost all the hours the 12/12A buses are running throughout the complete week just because 'club-goers' are given a higher priority for revelling.
Anyway, it's nice to be told, at last, why the bus shelter was removed just by GL1 in Eastgate Street.”