ATIK closes: where have Oxford’s students gone?
Oxford nightclubs have started feeling pressure as local students aren't clubbing anymore.
Notoriously, nightlife in Oxford has been ridiculed as being subpar at best and now, unfortunately for current and prospective students, one of the more popular nightclubs has officially closed as of June 30th.
The news of ATIK Oxford’s closure was confirmed earlier this year by Rekom, ATIK’s parent company, after the club had already made a statement that they would not be closing following rumours that circulated of lease complications in February 2024.
With their latest announcement, a spokesperson on behalf of ATIK Oxford has said: “It is extremely regrettable that despite our best efforts negotiating with the landlord, they have decided to take back the lease to pursue other plans for the venue and we have been forced to close. We did not want to close ATIK Oxford and remain committed to having a venue in the city.”
According to Peter Marks, the Chairman of Rekom UK, the closure of the well known nightclub has come as a result of a “combination of the cost-of-living crisis hitting younger generations and students particularly hard, as well as the rising national living wage.”
ATIK, however, is not the only Oxford club feeling the pressure of economic struggles. Students, in an effort to save money, seem to be spending less at clubs and changing their clubbing habits.
Oxford has been a hub for students for years, home to Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University, and many other colleges and schools. A 2021 Oxford census found that 26.5% of the city’s adult population is made up of students, which is roughly 36,000 people. These large numbers of students help to keep Oxford nightlife alive, and local clubs open.
However, with soaring prices students are finding they just aren’t financially stable enough to go clubbing anymore and are falling out of love with clubs altogether. Instead, young people are opting for pub gardens and house parties.
Within the 2023/2024 academic year students saw prices increase dramatically; from entry cover to drinks, clubbing seems to have reached uncomfortably high prices for budgeting students.
An Oxford resident and Brookes student, Alison Chomyn, commented on the rising prices and how the cost of living is affecting their time clubbing in Oxford.
“I personally find that a lot of the people I know that were really into clubbing multiple times a week barely go once now, and when they do they tend to regret the money spent. Staying in is a lot cheaper, even going to pubs can be cheaper.”
Alison pointed out that though her clubbing days used to be frequent, the clubs just aren’t as busy anymore.
“Clubs only seem to be busy on Fridays or Saturdays now, it was always expected, but other week days would usually be busy and full of students and that has significantly decreased. I imagine this is because of the financial crisis currently going on… It’s a shame because it used to be a lot of fun and a great opportunity to meet other students but now it’s really not worth the expense.”
Alfie Dixon, an employee at Oxford’s Plush, spoke to us about how they have seen the clubbing scene change over the years they have been working in the nightclub.
“I've noticed that recently our bigger nights like Pride and May Day haven't been as busy as they used to and I've noticed more recently on our regular nights that on some nights we've been pushing a lot more offers and things like that.”
He continued, “...because of course the current economy students are struggling to find jobs, so they're basically fully living off their student loan to pay for their rent, to pay to live basically and then they're having barely any money to go out clubbing.”
Another popular Oxford nightclub, O2 Academy, most well known for their ‘Fishies’ nights, has also noticed the changing student habits. An employee at O2 Academy Oxford commented,
“I’ve noticed the bars being less and less busy, due to both prices and its repetition. May day wasn’t as busy this year as it was last year and the people who did come left earlier than the year before.”
When asked how the club has responded to these changing clubbing habits they also said,
“The club has reinforced the drinks deals and taken new levels to advertise them, but I see the club scene dying out. Oxford as a city heavily relied on pub culture so I believe there will be an increase in late licensing in more pubs because of the high demand.”
Students witnessing the slow death of clubbing are saddened to see that era of their life being shut down. However, hope for a healed economy looms as elections are underway, potentially giving students the opportunity to let loose and comfortably spend extra cash supporting our local nightclubs, as many before them have.