George Bray resigned as chairman of Western International Market Tenants Association (WIMTA) on Wednesday, amid growing unrest over his role among tenants unhappy at certain aspects of the market’s move to new premises on Monday.
Bray issued a letter to all tenants outlining his position, and answering some of the criticism laid at his door. He said he wanted to “put straight all the rumours and innuendo currently circulating in the market”, as fellow tenants accused him of misrepresenting them, and forcing the market to move when several traders were not fully prepared to open their doors.
The finger of blame was pointed squarely at Bray by various traders, as well as more than one of his fellow board members, one of whom accused the chairman of employing “bully-boy tactics” to ensure the move took place on schedule.
However, Bray hit back: “The directors, along with the London Borough of Hounslow, met on June 26 to consider an extension of the moving date by one week,” he said. “The directors concluded that, although this was very inconvenient to a number of parties, we would extend by one week, provided that a decision was made by June 27.
“No such decision was made by the London Borough of Hounslow, and in my opinion any less than one week’s notice was unacceptable. The date for moving had been set in stone, and I recall the often mentioned phrase that we were “going ready or not”.
Bray continued: “All tenants and their contractors had the same amount of time to complete the works. Some members, for varying reasons, simply could not have stayed in the old market and would have been forced to close, whereas everybody could trade in the new market, even though their stands were not finished.
“It would have been wrong if the tenants who had done everything our landlords had asked of them in terms of deadlines had been disadvantaged, in favour of those who chose a contractor who had overstretched himself and was clearly unable to finish the work he had undertaken.”
Andrew Owen of Owen Owen, also a member of the WIMTA executive, said before Bray’s resignation: “It is a big issue, and in my view, it comes down to George pushing for a move when it suited him rather than the majority of the tenants he represents as chairman. I think he’ll come in for an awful lot of stick for it.
“When 70 per cent of the tenants are not ready to move, their views should have been taken into account. You could say that if you are not ready it’s your fault, but whoever was at fault, the tenants’ association, when it was offered the option of more time, should have taken that chance. It never went to a vote, but that would have been pointless anyway, because half the board wanted to move and half didn’t, and the council wanted a unanimous decision.”
Charles Rees, managing director of Vitacress Sales Ltd, was calling for Bray’s “dismissal” before the chairman sent out the letter. He told freshinfo: “We are disappointed the chairman did not agree to the extension offered by the landlord to delay the move by one to three weeks.
“The chairman is meant to act in the interests of all the tenants, not just his own. Under his stewardship, the association’s wealth has plummeted from around £1 million to virtually nothing in 14 years. There is to be a vote on his dismissal from the board.”
Bray will officially tender his resignation to the board of WIMTA at a meeting on July 16.
