Edinburgh to introduce night time co-ordinator to help city's nightlife economy thrive

Edinburgh is set to introduce a “night time co-ordinator” in a bid to help different nightlife industries collaborate together to address safety, transport and business concerns in the capital.

The city joins London, Manchester and Bristol with the introduction of the role – something which nightlife charity Street Assist has been calling for for several years

The charity helped almost 40 people to get home safely at the weekend and stands to benefit from the introduction of a night czar.

Amelia Waspe, fundraising and marketing manager at Street Assist said: “For us, it’s going to be really fundamental to women’s safety – a lot of the stuff we talk about and lots of cities talk about from a women’s safety perspective is actually stuff that will benefit everyone.

“So if we can get that coordination across, we can think about things like what lighting is like what transport is like and how that can be improved and coordinated to be better during the night time economy hours, that undoubtedly will help the women’s safety initiative.”

The role will involve co-ordinating the night-time industry together to help it thrive in terms of safety, transport and business.

It’s a move that has been welcomed by local businesses.

Ellie Street, events manager at The Three Sisters, said: “I think something that all of the venues have felt across the Cowgate have felt is sort of separated and underrepresented by the council.

“So I think having that extra help is going to be really important especially with these busy weekends coming up, keeping our customers safe and making sure it’s a safe place in Edinburgh and everyone can go and enjoy their nights out without any risk of anything horrible.”

Edinburgh will be joining cities like London, Manchester and Bristol where night time co-ordinators have been in place for several years.

London’s Night Czar, Amy Lamé said: “We now have over 2,100 businesses and organisations across the capital signed up who are actively working to help women and girls feel safer, and we’ve been able to make incredible increases in footfall and spend, so I think Edinburgh has everything to gain from having a night czar.”

The recruitment process is now under way with applications for the role opening soon.

Councillor Tim Pogson, chair of the Edinburgh community safety and justice partnership, said: “It needs to be somebody who has a knowledge of that night-time economy and how it works and what’s important to it.

“But actually I think the most important thing it’s somebody who can reach out to all communities and have those conversations and meaningful discussions.”