Category: Harper-Thames Blog

10
Oct
2026

The Greens Took 42 of Hackney’s 57 Council Seats and Labour Fell From 50 to Nine: How a Landslide Happens on 43 Percent of the Vote

The 7 May result gave Zoe Garbett the mayoralty, handed Shoreditch and Hoxton to a new party,…

10
Oct
2026

A Pound on Every Arena Ticket: The Simplest Idea in Live Music, and Why It Is Taking So Long

Small venues spent 248 million pounds putting on music and took 131 million at the door, and…

10
Oct
2026

Boxpark Shoreditch Was Meant to Last a Few Years in 2011 and Fought a Closure Notice Into 2025: What Happened to the Shipping Container Mall

The pop-up mall on the Bishopsgate Goodsyard site housed more than 250 independent brands, and the sources…

10
Oct
2026

One Neighbour, One Complaint: The Noise Rules That Can Close a Venue

The nightlife taskforce wants a rethink of how London handles sound at night, and the argument between…

09
Oct
2026

Twenty-Three Recommendations for the Night: What the Taskforce Report Means on Curtain Road

City Hall’s nightlife taskforce wants one licensing rulebook for all of London and an end to the…

09
Oct
2026

‘Hackney Will Not Be Closing at Midnight’: The Row That Defined Shoreditch Nightlife, Ten Years On

A decade ago a licensing consultation convinced half of London that the party was being shut down,…

08
Oct
2026

The Busiest Corner in the Borough: What a Council Study Learned by Watching Shoreditch at Night

Researchers counted premises, tracked footfall and singled out two stretches of pavement, and their findings explain why…

08
Oct
2026

Who Pays for the Night? Inside Hackney’s Late Night Levy

Venues open after midnight are charged a fee that funds patrols and a dedicated nightlife officer, and…

07
Oct
2026

No More Night Czar: Who Speaks for London After Dark Now?

The post created with such fanfare in 2016 was quietly ended two years ago and replaced by…

07
Oct
2026

Twenty Percent Off Business Rates, From April 2027: Help Is Coming, If You Can Last That Long

The government has announced a rates cut for pubs, clubs and live music venues, and for a…