Glasgow City Council pilot scheme to extend trading hours until 1am

The launch of the scheme was announced in the council's Licensing Policy Statement published last Friday (3 November), which sets out its licencing policy for the next five years.

The council's Licensing Board said: "Strong support for 1am closing for pubs and other on-sale premises in the city centre was expressed during our recent consultation on licensing policy and this measure is something we wish to explore further."

The council added that no extension to opening hours will be made permanent before the impact of the trial, both on individual premises and more widely across the centre, has been assessed.

UKHospitality Scotland executive director Leon Thompson said: "This type of trial is exciting for pubs in Glasgow and is a great example of the sort of innovation that should be looked at within the existing licensing framework across all towns and cities.

"Of course, this kind of approach needs to be applied to the entirety of hospitality and the night-time economy to ensure all venues, licensed or not, are able to benefit from new ways of thinking. We're looking forward to seeing what the results of the trial will be."

Operators who wish to take part in the trial have until 31 January 2024 to apply.

This is not the first move in the council's plans to reinvigorate the city centre's night-life; earlier this summer, the council devised plans to grow its night-time economy through the provision of rooftop bars, European-style food halls and live music venues. And, in 2019, it launched a trial which enabled the city's nightclubs to remain open until 4am. The process was delayed due ot the pandemic but last month the council granted 10 nightclubs to be allowed to stay open until 4am.