enlivenAURAinZürich REVITALISING BARS & CLUBS

It’s been a tough few years for an already embattled sector, but it seems like brighter times are ahead for bar and club operators who are willing to differentiate their offers with the latest AV, writes

David Davies

Even before the pandemic struck, things weren’t looking especially rosy for the bar/pub and club sector. Confronted with soaring rents and operational costs, many businesses found themselves priced out of existence. It only follows, therefore, that being unable to open at all during Covid-19 was going to have a significant effect.

A quick look at the data confirms the scale of the resulting closures. In the UK, accounting services company UHY Hacker Young recently found that the number of pub and bar companies becoming insolvent had risen from 280 in 2021 to 512 in 2022, with a quarter of pub firms likely to go out of business after only three bad months. Meanwhile, the Night Time Industries Association has reported that UK clubs closed down at a rate of 10.63 per month between December 2019 and 2021

But if it’s undoubtedly a reduced sector, it’s also one in which the importance of AV as a method of securing – and then retaining – customers is increasingly wellunderstood. Throughout the interviews for this piece,

Installation heard of operators looking to rejuvenate their offers post-pandemic by improving their AV and, in many cases, using it to differentiate themselves in a more selective market. Therefore, what emerged was a more optimistic impression than might have been expected given recent events.

Market Improvement

Jack Cornish is technical director of Tateside, an AV design and installation company whose clients include Soho House. “The market began to improve as soon as lockdown ended and people realised that they had to invest in order to encourage visitors once again,” he says, adding that this year has presented “a lot more hospitality projects that are of interest to us to quote for.

"[Technology-wise, customers] have tended to depend more on video than audio in the past, but I definitely notice that more clients are now seeing the value of investing more in audio as a way of differentiating the experience.”or reworked concepts,

Discussion of audio’s role in helping to deliver new or reworked concepts, and bring customers back into venues, tended to dominate contributions to this article. Geographically, it has been EMEA and the Americas that have led the resurgence, although APAC is now regaining momentum.

Michael Kinzel, global segment manager live & entertainment venues at d&b audiotechnik, notes that bars/clubs had been showing “double digit increases” for the company before Covid-19. “After a short hold-on period, both markets continued their growth even during the pandemic," he adds. "Pre-pandemic, APAC had been the strongest region, while from 2020 to 2022 EMEA and Americas proved to be more stable. This year sees APAC making a comeback, which results in a very even global picture for d&b in the bars and clubs market.”

The pandemic hiatus, indicates Kinzel, prompted venues to work on new formats and seek audio solutions that are well-recognised; including, for instance, if they are hosting international DJs and artists. “It is very clear to see that venue owners/ operators used the downtime to create new concepts to define and deliver fascinating enhanced customer experiences and new entertainment formats,” he says. “That change brought along a trend to invest in the latest high-end equipment/solutions that enabled the user to realise the multi-purpose use of venues combined with remote controlled applications.”

Encouraging Picture

Rami Harfouch, general manager at K-array distributor ProCom Middle East, also paints an encouraging picture.

“The willingness to invest in new audiovisual equipment has returned in high volumes as the bar and club industry recovers from the pandemic hiatus. Establishments are keen on revitalising their offerings to attract customers and differentiate themselves," he says.

"High-quality sound systems – including speakers, amplifiers and mixers – are essential for creating an immersive audio experience that complements the venue's ambience and music quality.”