Nightclub operator Luminar has revealed that increasing unemployment among young people had an adverse effect on trading during the six months ending 27 August 2009.

The company has reported a 4.5 per cent decline in like-for-like sales across its portfolio of 88 UK nightspots, which include the Oceana and Liquid brands, with the recession hitting its core customer group of 18-24 year olds hard. Luminar has also warned that there has been a further decline in trading during the seven weeks to 15 October 2009, as same outlet sales decreasing by 14 per cent and admissions declining by 16.6 per cent.

A spokesperson for the company said: "Our customers are predominantly in the 18 to 24 year age group, who have been significantly impacted by the recession. Some 18 per cent of this age group are now unemployment, and many more are students or on low incomes. "While our customers undoubtedly value the high energy experience of a Luminar nightclub, they are more economically constrained in their leisure activities, as our lower admission numbers demonstrate."