New Spitalfields tenants’ association chairman Chris Hutchinson was fulsome in his praise for landlord the Corporation of London and new market superintendent Ken Alexander at last weekend’s annual dinner and dance.
Hutchinson told nearly 300 guests attending last Saturday’s event at the Millennium Hotel in London’s Grosvenor Square, that the corporation and Alexander have brought in changes in the last 12 months that tenants would have found barely credible beforehand. “[Health and safety] regulations have been in place for many years but we have been at best a bit lax in upholding them,” he said. “Just over a year ago, health and safety arrived at Spitalfields with a vengeance and we had no choice but to get our house in order.
“The response of the tenants has been first class, with further investments into their businesses to cater for these new requirements, such as buying extra space and installing mezzanine floors. Every forklift truck is being fitted with speed restrictions and every forklift driver now wears a hi-visibility vest. If you had said this two years ago, I’m not sure anyone would have believed it.”
Against the terms of the tenants’ leases, the corporation has also agreed to pay a £41,000 bill for the upgrade of the market’s traffic system, and Hutchinson took the opportunity to convey public thanks for the gesture.
Pictured above, Hutchinson, left, presents this year’s Master of the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers, Ivor Robins, with a commemorative gift from the market. “Ivor is Spitalfields through and through,” he said. “It’s a great honour to have [Ivor] in a high-profile position, knowing that Spitalfields will be talked about in many high places.”
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