NOTTINGHAM
Nottingham Wholesale Fruit Market has been operating on its Clarke Road site for 18 years since moving from outdated Victorian premises nearby. Steve Webster, who heads up Total Produce’s wholesale operations in England, Scotland and Wales, says: “Nottingham is one of the smallest, but one of the nicest markets. I think a lot of that is because it is still quite modern and fit for purpose and it is better condition than a lot of the older markets.”
The market itself is unusual in that it is owned by the private sector - a pension fund to be precise - and there are not really any tensions between landlord and tenant. There are some changes afoot with WE Smith (Fruit Merchants) Ltd set to close in September as its owners go into retirement and the closure of Flower World Ltd in the last few months.
Total Produce is there to stay, Webster emphasises: “We are heavily committed to wholesale markets in general, provided they are well run. The cycle of the last 20 to 30 years has been one of contraction of independent retail, but wholesale has survived. From our point of view, we have a lot of successful business on wholesale markets.”
MANCHESTER
Manchester’s Smithfield Market is housed on a 35-acre site in the Openshaw area. As well as wholesale fresh produce, meat, fish and poultry are also traded at the site and it is the largest wholesale market in north-west England, with some 18 fruit and vegetable traders. Manchester City Council is market landlord and manager.
The market is not fully occupied and while one of the two main market halls is well tenanted with wholesalers, the council has other tenants running a host of businesses including refrigerator sales. It also runs Sunday markets and car boot sales to try to maximise revenue from the site.
Steve Webster of Total Produce, which also operates a successful wholesale business on the Manchester market, says: “Following the pattern of a lot of wholesale markets, Manchester is only half occupied.
“I think the most likely course in the future is that existing units will be refurbished and the council is working on a three-year plan.”
LIVERPOOL
Liverpool Wholesale Fruit & Vegetable Market is owned by the city council but managed by French firm Geraud Markets since 2003.
Geraud Markets (UK) Ltd entered into an agreement with Liverpool City Council to establish the joint venture company Geraud Markets Liverpool Ltd (GMLL) to run as a strategic service partnership and manage and develop all the city council’s markets, retail, farmers and wholesale.
It is thought to be the largest and arguably most successful example within the UK of a public-private sector management partnership of local authority markets.
Wholesale Produce Association chairman Geoff Wells believes that this relationship with GMLL means that through the parent company there could be access to sufficient funding for development and regeneration of the market. “What tenants would like is a long lease on the market, then we can have an interest in it. The only way ahead is to continue on our present site but at economical rents that the tenants can afford. We know the council has no money - no councils have these days. But Geraud UK is in it for the long term with the markets and I think they will be willing to invest.”
LEEDS
Yorkshire Produce Centre was established 12 years ago by a handful of forward-thinking traders who moved from Leeds market to the nearby site on Pontefract Lane.
Since then one of the four, Gilbert Thompson (Leeds) Ltd has become the sole owner of the 115,000 sq ft building.
There are now six fresh produce and flower firms trading, with the arrival of RK Harris & Sons two years ago. The business was solely retail with several thriving greengrocer shops in the area supplying catering customers from the stores themselves. As the catering operation expanded RK Harris & Sons took the decision to move onto the market for economies of scale and better facilities for transport and has since gone from strength to strength.
Now landlord Gilbert Thompson is keen to attract another tenant. Director Richard Thompson says: “We are interested in finding a new tenant, maybe someone with some more exotic items that are not offered by the firms currently trading here. We have up to approximately 5,000 sq ft of space since we had an internal reorganisation at the market and that has opened up this opportunity. We would be more than happy to hear from anyone who might be interested.”
In other developments, the service charge has just been reduced by 25 per cent as tenants have been splitting their waste at source and the market is able to recycle a lot more and send far less to landfill.
GATESHEAD
There are three major tenants on the North East Wholesale Fruit & Vegetable Market that between them operate 102 of the Gateshead site’s 160 units. Thomas Baty, JR Holland and Total Produce dominate trading on the market, which is increasingly - as with many wholesale markets - expanding its tenant base to include businesses such as transport and vehicle repairs.
The market is owned by a limited company, The Fruit & Vegetable Market Company, which owns the freehold of the Team Valley Trading estate site and leases premises to the tenants. Some 42 years of the 99-year leases the tenants hold have now expired.
A new roof was finally agreed upon and was fitted last year after much negotiation and last month an administration block on the site was demolished.
Malcolm Venus, general manager of the market company said: “This has freed up some 2.5 acres of land which we will sell. That will help with the costs of the market, for example road repairs and other maintenance. We did some major road repairs two to three years ago that were only a five-year repair rather than a 20-year repair, which was too expensive at the time. This is a big site - 22 acres so maintenance is an ongoing job.”
NEW SPITALFIELDS
There’s only one word on everyone’s lips at Spitalfields at the moment: Olympics. The weather might be the preoccupation from a sourcing point of view, but with its location on the doorstep of the east London Olympic site, market traders and authorities are busy putting the final pieces of a complicated jigsaw in place to ensure supplies can be met during the Games.
In other news, the market this week hosted a visit by the Lord Mayor of the City of London.
NEW COVENT GARDEN
The redevelopment has been at the forefront of everyone’s minds at New Covent Garden lately, but the run up to the Olympics has also preoccupied the traders.
A spokeswoman for the market says the authority is working with traders to help them meet the particular requirements for Olympic supply, which demand food be sourced to Red Tractor standard.
NCGM is also the only market to have retained its business development manager, having part-funded Zeenat Anjari’s position along with the Greater London Authority. -
