It may be one of London’s most traditional markets, but over the last few years, Borough Market has undergone significant change. With consumers ditching their life-long supermarket habits for the more earthy farmer’s market shopping experience, Borough has cashed in, incorporating an extensive repertoire of retailers selling gourmet meats, dairy and fruit and vegetables, and this aspect of business has helped earn the market a higher profile with the London public and celebrity chefs alike.
In recent years it has won awards for being the most popular market and even the city’s most popular experience - all voted for by the public in the local and national press.
However, behind its bourgeoisie retail frontage, the very heart of the market is made up of its historical wholesale division. Consisting of just eight companies, it provides fruit and vegetables to hoteliers, caterers and the public, and it is this section of the market that is the latest to be made over as part of the market’s overall £8 million, five-year rejuvenation project.
The project started three-and-a-half-years-ago and was designed to revamp the market’s entire site and surrounding area. To keep the disruption to a minimum, the job was split into two phases of refurbishment. Starting at the south end and sweeping north toward the river, workers are just adding the finishing touches to the retail section, and have now reached the wholesale side under phase two of the project, which alone will cost £1.7m to revamp.
For the wholesale market, the work will mean that the current partitions between the wholesale companies will be ripped out and turned around so that traders’ sites will be arranged side-by-side, each backing on to the Jubilee car park. This will not only provide them with better facilities, but also allow larger vehicles with much better access for loading. Andy Sugarman, of EA Sugarman & Sons and chair of the Borough Market Tenants’ Association, says traders are excited about the work: “Everyone’s looking forward to it. It will give it more of an old-fashioned market feeling. It’s a special environment and we need to meld the old and new as best we can.”
Martin Bourne, of wholesale company A & W Bourne, also welcomes the transformation, and says it could help business run smoother: “Hopefully it will consolidate the place and make it much nicer for everyone to work in,” he says. “It will also mean that we don’t have the problems with the public walking into the market which can make it a bit difficult.”
But the transformation is no easy feat. Some of the market’s infrastructure is hundreds of years old and the work has to respect the original architecture, as Sugarman explains: “The place has got such a historical nature - we couldn’t just go and smash everything down, and things can be expensive. Things have gone slightly over budget on phase one, but so many things can crop up in a place like this.”
Sugarman and his staff will have to vacate their current site to make way for the work; for nearly seven months they will take up a new place in the middle of the market’s south end. He explains that, despite the problems, the transition has been made easier by support from the market’s management team: “Phase one was more difficult than phase two will be, but we get on very well with our landlords so it makes it easier - they are very sympathetic to what we need,” he says. “We’ve got a good rapport and working relationship and they do their best to help us out.”
Part of this support system is new market director Simone Crofton, who took over the post in August. “It’s nice now. The new director has come in and got to grips with things very quickly - things are moving along at quite a good pace,” Sugarman says.
Crofton explains that everyone involved is excited about the project: “I’m thrilled about the refurbishment,” she says. “There was a bit of a delay while we saved some money for it, but I hope we will move back in to a beautifully refurbished site - it will be lovely when it’s finished.”
On a day-to-day basis, both expect traders will have much better facilities to work with, and of course the work will fix the leaky roof and troublesome electrics many companies are now experiencing. But more than that, Sugarman says it’s the beginning of a new era for the market. “It will be a fresh start for traders. The customers will appreciate it and I’m sure we will too,” he says.
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