The Time Out London blog team

While New York is the city that never sleeps, London’s nightlife seems all-too-fond of an early bedtime. But it is still possible to do an all-nighter in the capital, as shown by a recent report by Metro. Back in 2010, 1,000 venues across the UK had all-day, all-night licenses, with 91 of those in the capital. These days, however, a measly 58 24-hour licenses are left. Back in 2024, the number of 24-hour gyms in the city officially surpassed the number of 24-hour bars and clubs.  Fortunately, the tide could be about to change. Sadiq Khan’s independent London Nightlife Taskforce, which was established in 2025, has put together an action plan to bring London’s club scene back from the dead. The ‘comprehensive’ plan was unveiled in January and includes everything from changes to night-time transport and rethinking approaches to noise monitoring to a Nightlife Future Fund.  Club rats will recognise the iconic Islington venue fabric and Canning Town favourite FOLD as late-night havens. But could there be a new wave of sites staying open – and serving – for longer? Last year new 24-hour licenses were awarded to both Brixton Storeys and Bow’s Starlane Pizza Bar. According to Metro, Lambeth is now reportedly home over 30 pubs and bars with 24-hour licenses, while Islington has 10 licensed venues, including fan-favourite Fabric and NQ64.  Elsewhere, the stats don’t look quite so promising. Greenwich reports 17 venues operating with 24-hour licenses but only one of these – The...

Drivers, beware. More parts of central London could be pedestrianised under proposals from Westminster Council and the Crown Estate.  The road between Piccadilly Circus and St James’s Park could be transformed into a massive public plaza and vehicles could be banned from Regent Street St James’s, Waterloo Place and the south side of Piccadilly Circus. If the proposals are enacted, the pedestrianisation of certain roads would lead to more than 35,000 square metres of new public space, equivalent to more than five football pitches, created in the West End.  Currently, Regent Street St James’s is for northbound road traffic, while its neighbour, Haymarket, is for southbound road traffic. The plans would see vehicles banned from Regent Street St James and Haymarket converted into two-way traffic. Waterloo Place, just south of Pall Mall, could also be pedestrianised. The plaza is home to a number of statues and memorials, including the Florence Nightingale statue, the Guards Crimean War Memorial and the Duke of York column.  Image: Westminster Council Regent Street would have its pavements widened and see cycle lanes installed, made possible by the removal of the island in the middle of the road.  The grand plan was first announced in 2025, but at the end of January 2026 the Crown Estate announced it would continue with the proposals following a positive public response. The final designs by Allies and Morrison architects are due to be revealed in summer 2026, with work...

Back in the day, Manston Airport near Margate used to fly Brits to their holidays in Europe, with destinations including Italy, Portugal and Amsterdam. The airport closed its doors in 2014, but in 2025 it announced it was going to make a comeback. Now there’s been an update, as owners said the airport could reopen in 2029.  Originally built in 1916 as an RAF base, Manston also operated as a commercial terminal until shutting down more than a decade ago. In recent years it’s operated as a car park, hosted aviation events and was even the set for the 2022 film Empire of Light.  Originally tipped to open in 2028, the return of Manston Airport has been pushed back by a year due to the ‘complexity of planning work, changes to the cost of the works and turbulence within the financial markets’, Tony Freudman from airport owners RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP) said. Freudman told Kent Online that Manston could reopen as a cargo airport in 2029, but it could still be a few years until passenger flights return to the terminal. The £750 million project is reportedly in its final stages, with the airport in final discussions with a European funding partner.  No airlines have expressed an interest in operating from Manston yet, but Freudman said that airlines like Jet2 and TUI prefer ‘regional airports like this one’. RSP hopes that a consultation on proposed airspace will begin in March 2026.  Photograph: Shutterstock ‘Manston represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to...