These are dark times for Luminar. Shares in the nightclub operator took a tumble in September when it warned that it faced “significant risk” of not meeting full-year expectations. They took another knock this month after Luminar reported a further deterioration in trading. Like-for-like sales at Luminar’s 88 venues were down 14 per cent for the 7 weeks to October 15 – a sharp acceleration on the 9 per cent decline it reported for the first three weeks of September. Stephen Thomas, chief executive, blamed rising unemployment among the young for the fall in clubber numbers.