A NEW plan to support the recovery of the night time economy sector across Greater Manchester has been launched, together with a new commitment to ensure good employment throughout the city region.

Around 464,000 people in Greater Manchester work in jobs or businesses that are significantly active at night, making up around a third of our workforce.

These include jobs in the hospitality, leisure and cultural sectors, the taxi and private hire trade, 24-hour health and social care, and manufacturing and logistics workers.

The Night Time Economy Strategy for 2022-2024 was developed by night time economy adviser Sacha Lord based on conversations with employers, workers, and national organisations.

It sets out how the wide variety of businesses and individuals operating in the sector will be supported over the next three years by the work of the night time economy adviser and the night time economy panel, which represents operators, local authorities, the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said: “There’s no getting away from the fact that the pandemic had a devastating effect on our night time economy.

"Right from the outset we were clear that employees and businesses had to have proper support, and that no one should be left behind. Now, as our towns and cities are coming back from the worst impacts of Covid, the cost-of-living crisis poses a further challenge to trades and livelihoods.

“We need to act and put in place a plan that recognises the unique assets and different needs throughout Greater Manchester, and our Night Time Economy Strategy offers that vision for a sector than can recover, thrive, and offer good jobs across our city region.”

Night Time Economy Adviser Sacha Lord said: “The past 24 months have been the hardest on record for the industry but we now need to look ahead and focus on how we rebuild our night time economy.

“I am particularly proud of the leading initiatives the city-region committed to during the pandemic, and today’s strategy outlines how we will continue to support operators over the years ahead and the mechanisms we will put in place to enable those working within the industry to thrive.

“Together with the mayor, I look forward to putting these initiatives in place as we continue to establish Greater Manchester’s position as a leader in the arts, tourism and events and hospitality sectors.”

The strategy identifies seven priority areas for action, these are safety for residents, visitors and workers, diversity, improved pay and conditions for staff, transport, national and international partnerships, regeneration, and business support across all 10 boroughs.

In support of the aims set out in the strategy, Mr Burnham also announced an ambition to expand the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter in the night time economy sector, attracting more commitments from businesses to provide good jobs and conditions to their employees.

The Good Employment Charter, developed by the mayor and the leaders of the 10 local authorities across Greater Manchester, is a voluntary membership and assessment scheme that aims to raise employment standards across the city region for all jobs, regardless of size, sector or geography.

There are now 49 members of the charter and more than 350 supporters, covering close to 300,000 employees in Greater Manchester.

The Night Time Economy Strategy is available to read online here via the GMCA website.