The owner of Glasgow’s famous Sub Club has revealed how young people had to learn how to go clubbing after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mike Grieve has been in the industry for 40 years and own Sub Club for the majority of that time, and he has spoken about how he looked on in disbelief as youngsters turned up at nightclubs with McDonalds in their hands.

The nightclub industry was hit hard in 2020 when the pandemic hit and it meant there was almost two years where young people who had recently turned 18 were ‘stuck at home’ and Mr Grieve reckons it meant they missed out on learning how to act in venues from older friends and siblings.

He opened up on the challenges of running a nightclub on the Human First podcast, hosted by CEO of Murphy Wealth Adrian Murphy.

On the ‘new influx’ of somewhat uninformed clubbers, Mike told Adrian: “During the pandemic it was almost like a fire break when people were stuck at home for, in our business, nearly two years. When particularly the young student population had to stay at home, it restarted and there was an influx of people getting into clubs, maybe for the first time. 

“People had nobody to learn behaviour from like older friends or siblings. Young people were appearing at clubs not really knowing what to do. We had young people appearing at the door trying to get in with a McDonald’s and when we said no – they couldn’t understand why.

“Clubbing is peer-led, led by oldest siblings or friends. That all went. So we experienced this ground zero moment with nightlife. I think that’s what we're still trying to navigate.

Mike Grieve (right) with Adrian MurphyMike Grieve (right) with Adrian Murphy (Image: Handout)

“Then you have people in their mid-to-late twenties. Maybe, they have gotten used to staying in. Maybe, now, they don’t feel the same pressure to go out.”

The club owner feels a shift in working patterns could be partly to blame. 

“The numbers are quite stark when you see them, how people’s behaviour has changed,” he said. 

“They show how many people got into the way or working from home. Hybrid working has become much more commonplace. Mondays and Fridays are by far the preferred days for most people to work from home. People have gotten used to building their lifestyles around that and that has profound effects on the city centre, not just retail, but hospitality businesses as a whole. That’s had a really massive impact on Glasgow city centre in general.”

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Despite that, he is confident that people will gravitate back towards the joy that comes from clubbing. And a little bit of ‘adversity’ doesn’t scare the dance-scene mogul.

He said: “I always think there is going to be an appetite for nightlife. This goes so far back into human existence, listening to music and dancing. I think it will always be there. I think trying to predict what the behaviour patterns are is our challenge going forward.” 

“This industry is one of these things that’s in your blood. It’s something that I’ve taken a lot of pleasure from and developed a skill set in - that’s come from the adversity. As with a lot of things, you don’t learn something from having an easy life.”