Sheffield needs a Night Tsar to boost its evening economy, says club boss

Mark Hobson, managing director of Corporation nightclub and a director of Sheffield BID, has been in discussion with the council about creating the new role.

He says one of the Tsar's tasks could be to secure investment for the city centre, which will be crucial as the food, drink and entertainment industry tries to recover from lockdown.

Mark said: "We already have the Unight group where city centre venues can work together to solve any problems, and we do that alongside the council and the police, but it needs somebody to champion the city centre and take the night time economy forward.

"The Tsar should be someone from the entertainment sector as they know and understand how all the moving parts fit together."

Regional Mayors in other cities have already appointed Night Tsars. Parklife and Warehouse Project boss Sacha Lord was appointed Greater Manchester's first ever night-time economy adviser while London has presenter and performer Amy Lame.

Mark, along with Sheffield BID, is backing a national campaign called #RaiseTheBar which asks the Government to expand the rateable value threshold for all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses up to £150,000. It would enable more businesses to access a £25,000 grant to survive.

The retail industry alone generated £394 billion worth of sales in 2019 with 306,655 units across the UK.

In 2019, the leisure sector reached over £111 billion in sales. And hospitality employs over 3.2 million people - 11 per cent of UK jobs. It's the third largest sector in the UK, accounting for £130 billion in revenue.

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