Compared to some wholesale markets, some might say that New Smithfield Market is positively bustling. But is that because change is on the way, or are traders just making the best of a bad situation?
The problem is that it has taken so long to establish any plan of action that traders are either taking matters into their own hands by building their own facilities or making do with dated accommodation.
“Three years ago we had the opportunity to build a new unit, but we decided to wait for the council to redevelop,” says Paul Barton, owner of Barton and Redman Ltd, which has been part of the wholesale market since the company’s inception in 1964. “The problem for everyone here is whether to invest or wait for the redevelopment. We intend to build our own unit, but there is no point in building it here when the council could redevelop and move the market to the other side of the site.”
But Steve McKay and Mark Westwell felt it was the right time for them to invest in a warehouse and distribution centre for their new business Produce Logistics European (PLE), which began trading two months ago.
“We had been throwing the idea around for 18 months and then an opportunity came along for this site with temperature control,” said McKay, who previously worked at The Greenery’s wholesale department within New Smithfield. “We have been promised a similar facility within the redeveloped site, and I think it will still be two to three years before it starts to happen. By then, PLE will be an established business.
“It’s a risk, but a risk we are prepared to take,” he adds.
But with five years without an active tenants’ association and one-to-one meetings with the council held behind closed doors, most of the traders at New Smithfield are confused about the new plans and all kinds of rumours are circulating.
“We have been shown plan after plan now for eight years, and it’s been one meeting after another,” says Richard Henshall of Henshalls, one of the larger wholesale businesses in the market. “We have asked if we can build our own place and we want to stay on the market as it’s a vibrant place, but there are no figures and the council won’t confirm anything.”
Krys Zasada, head of markets for Manchester City Council, is well aware that this project has taken much longer than it ideally would have to get off the ground, but believes that some positives have materialised out of it. “This has obviously taken a lot longer than any of us anticipated,” he says. “But we have got some real key businesses here on this market and we have been trying to find out which can or can’t survive in this situation. This has helped us realise what we need to provide within the new market. For example some businesses need to have stand-alone facilities, like Manchester Wholesale Flowers, and some would rather face a trading street.”
The planning brief for the new market is now in its final stages and, once the contract has been put out to tender across the EU, the council will appoint a developer. “By the end of the year we will have a developer, which will then come up with the final plan,” says Zasada. “I am positive that there is a future in the wholesale market, despite the doom and gloom of the last decade. I think it is on the way up again and New Smithfield is going to be part of that.”
So has the absence of an active tenants’ association left the council with all the power and traders none? The general opinion in the market seems ambivalent. “When the tenants’ association was active it didn’t have any authority anyway,” says Andrew Henshall, who runs Henshalls with his brother Richard. “Tenants just did what they wanted to do regardless. Krys [Zasada] has asked us to form a new group to put our views across about the market. It could be worth doing it, but it’s finding the time.”
Barton agrees. “There isn’t an association, but no one went to the meetings when it was about. The only time anyone is bothered about it is when we need to talk about this redevelopment.”
Ramesh Lal of A-Z Fruit and Veg Ltd has been working in New Smithfield for 16 years and thinks that the situation could have been different. “The plans will probably change again,” says Lal. “I’m not looking forward to the redevelopment and I haven’t got the time to look into it. It would be easier if we had an active tenants’ association.”
Did Zasada think that the council had inadvertently got the upper hand in this situation?
“One of the questions that we’ve asked the tenants is: how should we communicate with them,” says Zasada. “Would they prefer to have a representative, or receive newsletters, or speak to the council one to one? The traders generally prefer one-to-one meetings with myself.
“But the body has to have a spokesperson that can speak with authority for the traders, which wasn’t really in place even when there was a tenants’ association.”
Although this opinion is generally echoed throughout the market, Zasada does realise that an authoritative tenants’ association would help the traders’ plight. “What the council wants to do is establish a strategic project board, and we see the tenants as part of that with one spokesperson to represent them.”
Zasada maintains that the plan for the new market is well and truly on its way. “The challenge for me has been that I’ve had to deliver a £58 million project on a very low budget,” he says. “But we are now looking at models that actually work. The biggest breakthrough came three years ago when it started to emerge that tenants wanted to invest their own cash and we are now working with architects on the possibilities. We have been asking for tenants’ requirements for the future and whether they are willing to put their own money into it.”
Unfortunately, this perfect solution for the council has understandably caused a divide between traders. The large traders with the money to invest seem to be kept in the picture, whilst the small traders feel like they have been shut out.
“We do want to see the redevelopment go ahead,” says Peter Marsh of A&C Produce, which occupies two units within the market. “But the plan is not fair on the small businessperson, because it has all of the large firms at one end and the small firms are together at the other end. It is no good for business.
“The council is expecting us to buy the space and then pay a service charge, but we don’t want to do this as the market will be thriving at one end and at the other end the smaller traders will die out.”
Marsh thinks that even the presence of an active tenants’ association would not ease the current situation. “The council doesn’t listen to the smaller firms and neither would the tenants’ association if it was about,” he says. “We don’t know what is going to happen next and it seems like the redevelopment plan is already done and dusted with the larger businesses.”
Patrick Connaghan of James Blackburn Ltd has been working on the market for 30 years and feels like his company has nothing to do with the redevelopment. “It’s a mystery to us when this redevelopment is going to happen,” he said. “We’ve got to move with the times, but we are being held back. We are in desperate need of fridges and selling space.
“The plans at the moment are unfair. We are a profitable company with three units. Why should we be at the end? We all need to sit around the table and talk about it.”
Manchester Wholesale Fruit is also in the same boat. Run by brothers Mike and Dave Elliot, the company was set up in 2004 within two units and it has since then expanded to four. “We should be looking forward to the redevelopment,” says Dave Elliot. “But nothing has been established, so it’s hard to get excited about it. It feels like the small businesses on the market have been excluded or overlooked. We have been shown a redevelopment plan. The prime sites have already been taken and we are right at the end.”
However, when funding is minimal, money talks. Manchester Wholesale Flowers (MWF) decided to take matters into its own hands and move away from the New Smithfield site. That is, until the council heard of the plans and offered the business a 19,000sqft site to build a new facility. “From what we’ve heard, a lot of companies were unhappy with what they were offered and turned a blind eye to it,” said Gary Boott of MWF, which occupies 11 units within the market. “We never really wanted to leave the market but what the council offered us was unsuitable and unrealistic. So we took positive steps to make a change.”
The business has grown rapidly since it was established in 1989 with just two units. With its customer base changing, MWF wants to distance itself from open-air trading and would rather trade from a stand-alone building, so it can offer a 24-hour service. The plot of land that the company will build its new warehouse on will face the future redeveloped market place and is in some way the first step towards the long-awaited redevelopment. “We engineered this situation ourselves,” says Boott. “Originally we were going to leave, but then we put to the council exactly what we were looking for and it offered us a plot of land.”
The impression Steve Trueman, a line manager at The Greenery, has is that the market will eventually end up composed solely of the large traders. Trueman is relatively new to the wholesale business and moved to The Greenery after an 18-year career at Kwik Save. “I think it will end up as three big stalls,” he says. “I think the supermarkets will eventually put all the independent retailers out of business, and the large traders will just deal with the catering side.”
“Wholesale markets always benefit from having lots of large companies within them, as it gives the right impression,” says McKay, who, along with his partner, has just invested more than £100,000 in PLE’s three new units. “It’s a tighter environment here between the traders, but I would prefer some bigger competition to be around.”
But from a distance, smaller companies, such as A&C Produce and James Blackburn Ltd, see that the redevelopment is happening for larger firms, whilst they stand still. Most of the larger firms are as confused as the smaller business, but it has not pleased some tenants that while some traders are waiting patiently in the wings, companies like MWF are allowed to go ahead and build new units.
Although Henshalls is considered one of the larger traders on the market, Andrew Henshall sees the argument from both sides and gives the impression that most of the larger companies know little or nothing more than the smaller ones. “We thrive on the smaller growers and rely on them as much as they rely on us,” he said. “If we brought all traders together facing each other in a square, it would create a great atmosphere.”
Although it appears as if the larger traders are given preferential treatment, it does seem that, like most of the problems on the market, it is more a case of miscommunication. When talking about the new market plan, Zasada says: “Wholesale markets are changing. A majority of the businesses on the market are expanding into serving foodservice; less is done face to face and many wholesalers deliver to the caterers.
“We have heard from tenants that they want everyone mixed together, but the problem is that some are open-air, face-to-face businesses and some just aren’t any more. From a design point of view it is hard to get that happy medium.”
However, realistically the present plans may be completely different by the end of the year and, despite the traders’ opposition to the way the council is approaching the redevelopment, generally everyone concerned is positive about the fact that change is on the cards.
Just Prepped, a supplier of prepared vegetables to companies supplying caterers within and outside of the market, is a great example of new blood being injected into both New Smithfield Market and the wholesale industry in general. Michael Asamoah set up his company, Just Prepped, in February and used to work in London’s New Covent Garden Market. “Nobody seems to have any idea when this redevelopment is going to start, but when it starts it will be good,” says Asamoah. Presently, Just Prepped is the only prepared vegetable business on the market but this new direction for the wholesale market is catching on and many say that it will turn around the decline of the wholesale market.
“The company is very much part of the market and has an active role,” adds Asamoah. “I buy the veg from the wholesalers, prepare the produce and then sell it on to the market caterers.”
Asamoah prefers New Smithfield Market to New Covent Garden. “Manchester is pretty busy but it is also relaxed. In my experience, in New Covent Garden there was no support for the tenants from the market authority, but in Manchester there is that support and you get the market manager coming round to visit you.”
Julie Woods, owner of catering supplier Bridgewater Produce, sees things in a positive, yet realistic, light. “It is a nice environment to work in,” says Woods, who bought the company five years ago. “Even though we are all in competition with each other we all help each other out. A lot of the businesses are family orientated, which creates a nice atmosphere.
“But the whole market is dying. It used to be so busy and is now condensed into one area, with units empty. Our facilities are fully equipped, but you walk out there and you can see it really needs change.”
BRC accredited, Bridgewater Produce supplies hotels, restaurants and golf clubs from Liverpool to Chester. Woods believes that this is the way forward for the wholesale market. “I think the profits have gone out of the wholesale game,” she says. “The supermarkets’ influence has had a huge effect, but stable companies, that have been here for a long time, and young blood, who have traded up through the businesses and have broke out on their own, are the way forward.”
Like many of the wholesale markets throughout the UK, New Smithfield is shrinking. Steve Dewhurst, managing director of Earnest Broadbelt Ltd, has worked on Manchester’s wholesale market for more than 40 years and has seen the changes first hand. “When we first arrived at New Smithfield 34 years ago, from the old market’s site, there must have been more than 90 firms and you couldn’t move for people,” says Dewhurst. “Since then, a further 40 to 50 companies have been and gone, and now we are down to maybe 14 actual fruit and vegetable traders. There has been a huge change in the industry and it’s mainly been due to aggressive supermarkets.
“One of the reasons why Ernest Broadhurst has survived for 110 years is that we have changed with the times,” he adds. “Good suppliers equal good produce, and our customers all get the best. But if it wasn’t for the Asian community, the market would be in a worst state now because, apart from Asian businesses, all the independent retailers are disappearing.”
Zasada believes that this is all part of a new phase that the market is embarking on and that, once the market has been redeveloped, it will be for the best.
“We’re now down to 45 businesses on the market, but that includes the dairy and fishmonger traders,” he says. “The interesting thing is that the turnover hasn’t decreased. There are fewer traders but units have consolidated. I think that is a good thing, as it is making bigger and better businesses.
“We have to look at the role that the traditional wholesale market plays. We didn’t see foodservice as a big factor nine years ago, but now it has a large part to play in the future. Fresh Direct is now on site and we have to gear the market towards that future.”
As the glimmer hope that is the foodservice sector becomes brighter, more and more catering suppliers are coming to make their home within New Smithfield. Wilson Catering came to New Smithfield in 1996 and supplies its own network of catering businesses alongside Efoods, which in turn supplies its own customer base regionally as well as nationally with other local firms such as Wilson Catering. Director of the company, Brian Wilson, is convinced of his firm’s importance to the wholesale trade and enjoys its location within the heart of it. “We are going forward to the redevelopment, because as a busy catering company we need to be within the market for supply,” he says. “Catering suppliers are going to be very important for many years to come. I believe that the catering suppliers, and the companies that can supply them, is the future of the wholesale market.”
A relatively new company, R Noone & Son Ltd, shares Wilson Catering’s approach. Mike Noone, director of the company, transferred his company’s attentions to the wholesale market after finding the world of retail too competitive when Marks & Spencer began to open all hours. The business, which supplies retail multiples, has gone from strength to strength at New Smithfield and after four years on the site the company is now trading from three and a half units as opposed to the one unit it started off with. “We like being here because of the close links we have with the market traders. We see exactly what we are buying which means there is less chance of getting inferior produce,” says Noone. “I think that the wholesale market is endangered and it’s shrinking in front of our eyes. People are looking more for direct supply, so I don’t know what will happen in the future. But finally this industry has started to move with the changes and started to respond.”
Robert Swinnerton of Richard Jones Produce is positive about the wholesale market’s future and is sure there is still a place for his business. Swinnerton has worked on New Smithfield for 30 years, but bought Richard Jones Produce in 2006. “Supermarkets have changed the face of wholesale forever, but they have also taught us an awful lot,” says Swinnerton. “The business has come along very well, and with the help of the team it has been expanding over the last seven years. The consumer is now more educated and prefers fresh produce. TV chefs are doing us a world of good.”
Musharaf Javid, sales manager at family business Vegman, believes that the trade in Asian fruit and vegetables also has an important place within New Smithfield’s future. “There are more Asian specialists on the market now,” he says. “That is very important to the market, as Asian retail shops are in the majority.”
But Javid also recognises that for his business to flourish, the market must move with the times. “The redevelopment is needed as the market needs some improvements,” he says. “European markets are so well developed. We are living in the past here. We need the new technology available out there and modernisation in general.”
This is all in the council’s vision for New Smithfield, according to Zasada.
“The plan is to create a food centre with not just fruit, vegetable and flower traders, but more dairy and fish, and meat traders as well,” he says. “We have some non-food businesses on the site now, but they know they’re now part of the future and we have been open about that.”
Once the market has been condensed, it looks like that “hustle and bustle”, which some market traders are missing, could return. However it looks like the changing face of New Smithfield, like the wholesale industry in general, may have some casualties along the way.
BARTON BUILDS ON RE:FRESH GONG
Re:fresh winner Matthew Barton of Barton and Redman has been running one of 12 of the company’s stores within New Smithfield for two years. Redman won the MorePeople Young Person of the Year Award at last year’s Re:fresh Awards, and says that the recognition has been great for business. “I have picked up a couple of suppliers through winning the award,” he adds. “Suppliers mention it all the time.”
Barton would like to see more traders come to New Smithfield, but realises the problems involved. “It’s a big risk to set up here now at Manchester,” he says. “It could all be knocked down soon, so it would be hard for young companies to make a start. It’s a shame because the smaller businesses feed on the larger traders and verse versa. It doesn’t help business having all of these empty units around us.”
TURNING WASTE INTO HARD CASH
As part of the site, New Smithfield Market has an industrial-scale composting facility with six compost towers.
Certified to PASS100 standards and funded by WRAP, the compost facility is run by Fairfield Composting, a not-for-profit organisation working across Greater Manchester to promote composting, and produces 8,500 tonnes of compost a year from the fruit and vegetable waste on the market. Now in the second year of the project, the facility has proven very successful at New Smithfield and has cut down the cost of cleaning the site. Once the compost is made it is chilled for a minimum of six weeks and then it is ready to go out to customers such as landscapers and council departments.
Helen Middleton, business manager at the facility, says: “Promotionally we have certainly raised the profile of the business in Manchester, but we now need to target businesses that we can service. We’ve got the production, now we have to tighten our focus.”
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