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John Bell, Sarah Maxwell and Simon Luard of Luardo’s Mexi-van, based in Whitecross Street |
Pitch battle as higher fees bite into market takeaways’ profits
Food stalls bear brunt of charges rise in wake of £1m improvement work
TAKEAWAY food traders at one of London’s oldest street markets have protested at plans to raise pitch fees by more than 80 per cent.
Five-day pitch fees at Whitecross Street Market in Finsbury would rise by more than 50 per cent to £65, with Thursday and Friday pitches jumping by 81 per cent to £40 for the two days. Islington Council is consulting stallholders about the proposed new fees.
Traders are baffled by the decision to raise fees so soon after £1 million was spent on reviving the ailing market.
Jaz Vyas, whose business, Mantra, sells Indian food, said: “I’ve been trading here for over six years. We’ve stuck it through thick and thin. The council inspectors come through, look at the queue and think they should put up the price, but it’s a two-hour lunch market.”
Mr Vyas feels Whitecross Street has been let down by a lack of marketing and a shortage of street signs.
He added: “Oil prices, congestion and ingredients have affected us in a big way. I was buying rice for £19, now it’s up to £36. Containers, packaging, lentils – the prices have gone through the roof.
“We asked for concessions or help with the rent and it hasn’t come.”
Other stallholders who do not sell food face much lower rises. John Taylor, who has run a record stall for 28 years, said: “They’re going for the food stalls. Why should ours go up a little bit and theirs a lot? What difference does it make if one person’s selling food and I’m selling CDs? We’re both taking up the same space.
“We’re sorry they’ve got a big increase. This, on top of the parking and congestion charge, all but puts the nail in the coffin.”
Serpil Erce, of Sunny’s Olive Tree, has a stall selling health foods and salads covering two pitches.
He said: “I used to pay £72 a week, now it’s going up to £120. That’s a huge increase.
“They don’t take into account whether it’s hot or cold food. In winter when it’s cold we lose a third of our trade – not a lot of people want cold food or salad.”
Shopper Ray Robson, who has been coming to the market since he was a child, said: “It’s terrible. If you look at the amount of money they’ve spent on the market – on the roads and the pitches – to make the traders come back and make it look lively and now they are just killing it again.”
Lib Dem deputy council leader Councillor Lucy Watt said: “To get the market going again businesses were given artificially lower prices to encourage more traders. With EC1 New Deal for Communities, we’ve invested over £1 million.
“The reason behind putting the price up for takeaway food is because they normally take more money because they have a very high turnover of people. We want to make sure there’s a diversity of stalls.”
She added: “The money goes into the street traders’ account, which pays for services such as road surfacing and the pitch. It has to break even so that’s why fees go up.
“If there’s evidence that putting the price up by £23 a week will kill their business they need to put that in the consultation.”
The consultation ends on September 18, with the Town Hall’s licensing committee due to consider the findings on October 1. |
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