Client: Westminster City Council

Project: Inclusion in the west end Night-time Economy

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What were MAKE asked to do?

Following a spate of alleged discriminations against black customers of West End nightclubs in Westminster, including claims of refusals where non-black customers were admitted or where black patrons were charged higher entry fees than white customers, Westminster City Council set up a Scrutiny Committee to investigate and publish findings and recommendations to address this issue. MAKE was asked to advise the Committee.

How did MAKE do it?

  • We undertook desk research into the area of discrimination in the night-time economy. Unsurprisingly, there is little of it, but we did find some evidence of historic discrimination and briefed the Committee on our findings.  

  • We undertook a social media analysis (sentiment analysis, keyword mining etc) to inform our advice to the Committee, providing them with additional evidence of where this problem appeared to be an issue in London or the West End in particular.  

  • We reviewed our own research as well as that if others and identified the current best practice in inclusivity in the NTE, or lack of it and recommended areas that the Committee could examine further to inform its own recommendations.  

What happened next?

The Council published its report, the first of its kind, and one that we believe is as important as it is innovative. The council is now working with West End venues on a one-to-one basis as well as through trade associations to roll out its recommendations for eliminating discrimination in Westminster’s NTE.

What unique value did MAKE bring to this project?

We used our national network of contacts within the night-time industries (such as the MDs and owners of leading nightclubs and live music spaces) to provide the Committee with contacts to deepen the inquiry.