By the time you read this you will probably have endured/enjoyed/survived your Christmas shindig, witnessed Lionel (accounts) do his unique rendition of the Macarena in the Star of Bengal, and Sheila (HR) accidentally take Martin’s (reception) jacket home, replete with house and car keys, not to be seen again until January ’25.

What you won’t have seen – at least if you were in London – is this festive state of hijinks playing out past 11pm. Because unlike, say Manchester or Glasgow (but also pretty much every other major city in the entire universe), London doesn’t have a night-time economy. And that’s not good for brand London or Messrs Starmer and Reeves as they seek to build back the nation’s coffers.

The reason for this, of course, can be traced back to good old-fashioned politics. Businesses don’t get to vote for councillors – residents do, which is why London, as a city that has historically been mixed-use, with dwellers living cheek-by-jowl with traders, has a bias towards the views of Mr and Mrs Smith from flat 3, who would rather you kept the noise down, thanks very much, any time after 9.30pm. It’s why Soho is restricted to private members’ clubs (not the best of times for those right now) and backstreet clubs rather than the wrap around café culture that we take for granted on our city breaks to Paris et al. At the risk of portraying myself as an old soak, many a time I have found myself with nowhere to go once the clock strikes 11.20pm.

I am not naïve enough to think that we are going to rewrite our electoral or licensing rules. The good residents of Piccadilly have got a few quid and know how to exert their influence, so we are unlikely to see an influx of late night bars opening any time soon. But could we not define an area of London that becomes the focal point of a 24 hour city?

I would suggest we have just the place, and the clue is in the name. The City of London dabbled at mixed use, but not unreasonably decided that maintaining the prestige of the City for commerce was more important than trying to accommodate residential occupiers. So with a few obvious exceptions, there are no residents to stick the boot in. The City has evolved over the past twenty years, and since COVID in particular, has become one of the most visited locations at weekends by people from inside and outside the capital. It’s no longer a ghost town after 9pm. It’s a retail destination. A restaurant destination. So why not go the whole hog and positively own the badge as the nation’s night-time capital?

There will be arguments that we don’t have the infrastructure to sustain after hours entertainment, but we already have tube lines that run through the night on Fridays and Saturdays, and a web of bus services. And moreover (to borrow the adage) if you book them, they will come. If people know facilities are open, the demand will justify the transport.

London is moving east, and more and more of our best and most vibrant communities are situated beyond Tower Bridge. The City is ideally located to take advantage of this population, to provide the type of attractions we enjoy when visiting New York or Berlin without upsetting an established residential community. It’s good for tourism and for associated businesses (taxi drivers, late night food outlets etc), and fundamentally, London should be doing this if it wants to stay ahead of international competition.

So that’s my Christmas wish. Let’s see if it becomes a New Year’s resolution.

With best wishes for the year ahead,

Ian