Bring in your own booze, Manchester nightclub owner tells punters | Manchester News

A Manchester nightclub owner says he has come up with a novel way of responding to the difficult financial climate in the hospitality sector – by letting punters bring their own alcohol.

From 19 September, those going to XLR in Withington will be allowed to take their own drinks so long as they comply with three key rules: no glass bottles, no rucksacks, and no re-entry.

While Bring Your Own Booze (BYOB) is not unusual in restaurants that do not serve alcohol, nightclubs traditionally rely heavily upon their bar takings to survive.

XLR’s owner Chris Hindle said he hoped his approach would help “get people back into clubs again” and alleviate the current “hospitality crisis”.

Since opening four years ago, XLR has worked with many renowned DJs and promoters, including Manchester-born Interplanetary Criminal.

Mr Hindle said he believed many people had been priced out of clubbing in recent years.

He said he hoped some of them would “buy into this concept and realise that it does become a lot cheaper for them”.

He expects to make a profit on ticket prices, with the average entry price increasing from about £6 to about £15.

Mr Hindle said the maximum entry price would never be more than £20.

“As a sort of reward [for spending more on a ticket], you can bring your drink in for free,” he said.

Many Withington residents are university students, who Mr Hindle believes are increasingly strapped for cash.

He hopes his new approach will give potential customers more control over how much they spend, since once inside the club with their own drinks, the night “is as expensive as you want it to be”.

Clubbers will be able to put their drinks in £2 lockers for the night, manned by staff who can refuse to give more drinks if they feel customers are too drunk.

Addressing concerns about overconsumption, Mr Hindle said: “We don’t want it to just be a free-for-all, of come in and just get totally intoxicated.”

Rather, he said the point was to make a night out more affordable.

And he stressed that anyone who turns up with “copious” amounts of alcohol would be refused entry.

The club recommend that guests do not bring any more than eight cans or one bottle of spirits, which would need to be decanted from glass into other bottles.

The Licensing Act 2003 does not prohibit customers from bringing their own alcohol to venues. Rather, it leaves this up to venues.

Mr Hindle said he has also had conversations about the potential risks of drinks being spiked.

“We feel this measure is actually a little bit safer because your alcohol is stored in a locker, and if someone offers you a drink you could see them take a closed can.”

The club owner added that while he will have the same amount of staff working as previously, they will need to “make a little bit more of an effort to make sure people are drinking responsibly”.

Mr Hindle said he felt nervous ahead of his unusual business model’s introduction, but felt it was worth taking the risk.

“If it doesn’t work,” he said, “at least I can say I tried something in the midst of a hospitality crisis.”