When the University of Brighton moved its Eastbourne campus to Falmer it marked more than an academic transition – it changed the town’s nightlife. With fewer students filling bars and clubs, it has prompted questions over what’s been lost and what comes next.
The Relocation of the University of Brighton’s Eastbourne Campus to Falmer in 2024 has ultimately caused there to be a lower number of younger people in the town. With approximately 1,500 students being relocated, the biggest sufferers are the people behind Eastbourne’s night economy with crowds decreasing and businesses suffering financially.
Those 1,500 students studied across three smaller campuses, but now some of those campuses have been left untouched and others put to good use. The main reason for change was because the standard of Eastbourne’s facilities didn’t match up to Falmer, with the newer campus labelled as more accessible than the ‘mix of challenging buildings.’
There were also benefits that students working at the School of Sport could collaborate with both the school of Education and Brighton Medical School.
Sam Smith, a former student at the Eastbourne campus spoke with BBC South East in 2024 and said: “I think commercially and economically it will hit the town because the students were always in the restaurants and the shops.”
You could argue this was coming all along, however. Students at times were confused as to why they had chosen the University of Brighton but were a 30+ minute commute from Brighton itself, and some students would even be studying further away in Hastings.
Despite the small number of students that Eastbourne hosted, the effect shouldn’t be undermined. The Seaside Town has a population of just over 103,000 with an average age of 45.3, as of 2025. That number would be lower and would seem to be lower if the student presence was still there, with a portion of the 1,500 typically visible in bars and clubs. Yet now they’re gone, a huge chunk of the younger heads was lost, leading to further repercussions on businesses, landlords, and independent workers.
Less customers, not as much demand for housing and a preference to go out elsewhere has led to the streets of Eastbourne being dull at night.
One person in particular who was affected was Dennis McGreever, a former taxi-driver who made his trade in Eastbourne.
McGreever highlighted the frustration he had when working late nights after the relocation. “It’s horrible, you know. You’re just sitting in your cab, I used to sit in, like, the station area in case a train came in late or something, or people were getting on the train late, and then I’d sit up by the hospital, where you might get some customers, but I was sitting around a lot after the students left. I can’t remember what date that was, but you know, it’s been in recent years, hasn’t it?
“Yeah, and there’s nobody really, a lot of drivers don’t even work nights now, they just work in the daytime, because you have got a lot of daytime trade with pensioners, they need taxis because they can’t get on buses or perhaps it’s much easier in a taxi, and the fares are quite reasonable at the moment, so yeah, it’s mostly a day trade.”
The demand for going out in Eastbourne has decreased, which was suggested by the loss in valuation of former night club CAMEO.
As of last year, the popular night-club was forced to close. Parent company REKOM UK had gone into administration just 18 months before, but a combination of that and smaller crowds led to the venue’s end after 40 years.
The nightclub was originally put up for sale at £700,000 but that value plummeted by December 2025 with the asking price now at £550,000.
As of now, there is not one defined reason why they’ve closed, or why the venue has decreased in price, but people are starting to realise the effect of the relocation on the town itself, with only a handful of venues that consistently get decent-sized crowds each week.
In contrast, the appeal of a night-out in Brighton has increased. Bigger City, bigger crowds, and accessible transport have now seen many younger people decide to go out in Brighton over Eastbourne. The infamous night bus which used to take students into the town still runs along the coast road, and train times have changed, whereby the last train is at midnight and the first of the day at 5am.
One place that was popular amongst the students, was Jesters Sports Bar. The venue on Seaside Road used to host socials for a number of societies on a Wednesday Night.
Charlie Haffenden, manager of Jesters, said: “We had some groups come in midweek for a social which helped, the main thing is it then made them want to come over the weekend, so we have potentially lost a fair bit of custom.
“This has made us need to find alternate things to get people in on weeknights”, he added. Jesters offer Pool and Darts tournaments for the public to partake in, as well as showing live sport throughout the week.
So, at least there’s one place offering something to do, as for the rest nothing has been outlined. Both McGreever and Haffenden suggest something should be done to encourage people to go into Eastbourne.
The former said: “Get a load of young people together and make it not a protest group but an awareness group”. As for Haffenden, he said: “Student night type of deals, other than that there isn’t much that can be done, the younger generation don’t want to go out.”
Whether anyone will speak up about the town’s night economy, or whether everyone is satisfied with its current state is unknown, however one thing is for certain, that the students have left a big dent on the town’s atmosphere.