THE owner of Bournemouth nightclub Cameo says Britons are going out as much as they ever did – and spending an average of £68 a time.

Rekom, which owns Cameo in Fir Vale Road, says the late-night leisure industry has recovered strongly since worst of the pandemic.

Its Rekom Night Index found people spent an average of £68.03 on a night out in March 2022, only fractionally down on the £68.68 recorded in March 2019. The average night out lasted four hours and 17 minutes, down from four hours 35.

People reported going out 1.2 times a week in March 2022, the same figure recorded in March 2019.

The research also found 80 per cent of 18-24 year-olds were keen to go out more to the venues that were shut for 16 months because of Covid.

Rekom UK’s chairman, Peter Marks, said: “We’re so pleased to be welcoming guests back to our venues and returning to what we do best. It’s fantastic to see such positive public perception around going out, something that is fully reflected by the strong business performance we have seen over the past few months.

“People have clearly missed going out. Nightclubs are an important outlet for people to enjoy themselves, and we can see this with spend, frequency and duration of a night out all bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels or better.

“What stood out to me more than anything is the strong positive reaction people have expressed to the night out – whether that’s enthusiasm for returning to pre-pandemic social lives for the younger generation, or the sense of nostalgia from those that might not be going as frequently as they used to.

“There’s no doubt that the late-night leisure sector is back in full force and people are ready to enjoy themselves.”

Rekom's research involved a representative sample of 2,358 adults, including 506 aged 18-21.

Rekom UK was created in 2020 when the Scandinavian Rekom Group bought nightclub operator Deltic Group out of administration after the UK business struggled during the Covid crisis.