Hospitality businesses on Birmingham's golden mile ended a difficult 2022 on a high with bumper crowds of revellers pouring into bars and clubs to see in the New Year.
The good news followed the nightmare series of problems associated with the Covid-19 pandemic in the last three years, which even meant restrictions on the previous New Year’s Eve.
But late night premises in and around the city's golden mile of Broad Street were once again the place to be on 31 December 2022 and 1 January 2023.
Mike Olley, general manager of the Westside Business Improvement District, said: “I am delighted to say that we had a brilliant New Year’s Eve into New Year.
“Many of our bars and clubs have reported having a really successful evening with records broken and double figures from last year, when Covid restrictions were still in place. It is such welcome news, and a major relief for our hospitality businesses who have struggled on for almost the last three years due to the pandemic.”
Mr Olley added: “The increased number of people in the city centre has undoubtedly been boosted by the popularity of the ice rink and big wheel, which has meant a strong presence in the area until night time. This is the first New Year without restrictions since 2019 and has created a really positive feel going into the year ahead.”
Adrian Swain, regional director for REKOM, which has two premises on Broad Street, Heidi’s and Pryzm, said he was delighted with the New Year turnouts. He said: “We sold out at Pryzm before midnight and then had a second wave of customers who’d celebrated at house parties and then decided to come to us after 1am.
“It was full again and, all told, we had around 2,400 customers which is about 20 per cent up on last year when the government announced Covid passports in December. Heidi’s, which only opened last May, filled all 91 tables and sold around 800 tickets on top, which was great.”
Dani Hadley, co-owner of Velvet Music Rooms on Broad Street, said: “We did quite well on New Year’s Eve and reached good figures.
“We probably had around 800 customers, having sold hundreds of tickets in advance. We had DJs from BBC1 Extra and promoted it well, and a good, safe night was had by all.
“Last New Year we still had restrictions in place so no-one could go on the dance floor, which really impacted on numbers. Fingers crossed this trend will now continue.”
Steve Emmison, manager at Velvet, added: “We had a really good night, certainly a lot better than last year, and, overall, we were really busy.
“2021 was awful, the worst New Year we’ve ever done because we were back to vaccine passports. We’ve had a really good start to the year and hopefully this is going to continue for us.”
A spokesperson for the several Stonegate Group venues based within the Westside BID area said: “New Year is always a highlight of our calendar.
“Our teams always bring the best possible customer experience possible to ensure our guests have a fantastic time, and 2022 was no exception. The weather may have been a bit wet and windy but that did not dampen the celebratory spirit.”
However, Sean Ashman, manager at the Slug and Lettuce in Brindleyplace, speaking in his role as chairman of Westside Pubwatch, added: “It was quite positive, although there is still some hesitation from people over the cost of living and still dealing with illness.”
