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London Night Czar Amy Lamé on restoring the night time economy

Five years ago, Amy Lamé was appointed as London's first ever Night Czar, working for the London Mayor to protect and nurture London nightlife. Here, she opens up to Headliner on the challenges posed by Covid, and the work being done to get the city's night time economy back on its feet.

In an already highly demanding role – the first of its kind in London – the past 18 months have presented challenges the likes of which no one could have predicted. The implications of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have been devasting for the night time economy, particularly on the grassroots venues and clubs front, an area in which Lamé has close ties, having curated, produced and hosted a variety of events on the circuit throughout her career.

“We were planning as best we could but we didn’t know how long this would last,” Lamé told Headliner when discussing the onset of the pandemic. “Almost straight away were liaising with businesses, trade bodies and people in touch with what was happening on the ground. We’ve been able to lobby government on issues that are most important to them. We’ve also given practical support for grassroots venues that were already at risk even before the pandemic. We realised that the pandemic could see them off, so the Mayor launched a £2.3 million business support fund for the most at risk venues. We needed to make sure they were resilient and could survive this.”

It's the most resilient sector I've ever encountered. Amy Lamé, London Night Czar

As for the future for grassroots venues, Lamé is confident that there will be a to preserve their place in the night time economy.

“It is the most resilient sector I have ever encountered,” she said. “I ran nightclubs back in the day, and you are used to having to roll with the punches, but this was a very big punch and a lot of people have suffered. It’s so important we support them as much as we can, and the government has to step up and realise they can’t do it alone. If they want this great recovery, we’re going to need places to go. It’s so important to connect with people.”

You can listen to our interview with Lamé in full below.