There are currently 67 Clubs with permanent premises in the UK at the time I am typing this.
(This list does NOT include other groups and organisations such as Killing Kittens etc, who run parties at a variety of venues which would make the total well over 150)
To give you some idea, this is almost an increase in 50% to how many clubs there were in 2002.
The internet certainly made people more aware of the clubs, and The Scene in general, and as a huge percentage of swingers also have children, there will always be a need for clubs over hotels etc. I won't discuss the pro's and cons of clubs vs 121 meets, as thats discussed in another folder.
If the numbers seem to have dropped in certain venues, then there are two very simple reasons for that, because there are certainly not less people on The Scene, there are more than ever.
1) More choice of better, cleaner, well run venues with a good range of facilities, playrooms and atmosphere.
The number of venues in the UK of a decent standard is now far higher than it ever was before. Fading fast is the time when someone sporting a string vest who had a few rooms in a crumbling property round the back of a Kebab shop, can chuck a few foam mattresses in it and call it a swingers club, and expect people to pay £30 quid to come in. I was going to say 'Gone' and not use the word 'fading' but then I remembered that some people are still actually trying to get away with it.
More choice also means that people aren't always restricted to going to the same venue week after week, but depending on their location may well have four or five clubs to chose from. People in Beds / Northhants area now have a dozen decent venues within an hours drive of each other. Where as 5 years ago, there were only 2.
The older clubs that are still around and doing well, have always looked at ways to improve, listened to their members, had a refit and kept the pace, which for all you swingers at the end of the day is nothing but a good thing, if one venue sets a new standard, those in the wise will follow suit.
More choice can mean a smaller concentration of numbers at any one venue, but I am still willing to bet that all the usual popular nights through out the year (Xmas, Valentines, New Years Eve, Bank Holidays, Members Birthdays etc etc) will be as busy as they ever have.
2) Economic downturn, as has been previously mentioned. When people can't afford to go as frequently as they did before, they are more likely to go on a night they expect the venue to be busy and so numbers will naturally gravitate towards those events.
Its worth pointing out, that in the last year alone, we are aware of at least 8 clubs that have closed, and in the last three years there have been almost double that. And this is more a relfection on the fact that there were better venues out there than just a room with a sofa in it and most of those that shut were either of a very poor standard, or very poorly run. Some were victims of their own sucess or fell by the wayside for other reasons, but in the main it would have been because they simply could not complete with the better standard of todays venues.
Someone previously mentioned clubs in Europe, and I think its true, some people will travel to France, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Germany and even Austria and Switzerland for clubs (They have over 700 venues between them)and even our best clubs in the UK simply cannot even compare to the likes of the best elsewhere in Europe but I think overall the percentage of business they would take from the UK would be relatively small overall.
Standards have been raised in the UK people, the well run clubs will prosper, the ones that aren't will struggle for business and numbers. We could talk about what makes for a well run club, but that is another topic (And another essay) entirely...
A - Writer of 'Sex in the Cities' The Adult Guide to Clubbing in the UK and Europe. |
