Gary Marshall, chairman of New Covent Garden Market Tenants’ Association (CGMTA), believes that work done by the association in the last six months has pushed tenants to the forefront of the ongoing debate on the future of the Nine Elms market.
“There is no doubt that we are being taken far more seriously by the government, the Corporation of London and PwC (the financial consultants hired by Defra to advise on future development plans),” he told the Journal. “We have at long last manoeuvred ourselves into a position of being involved in the initial discussions on our future. We will not undersell ourselves in negotiations and we now know that we could be the deciding factor in the way this market moves forward.”
The CGMTA has been involved in consultative meetings with Defra, the market authority and PwC and, Marshall added, the voice of the tenants is being heard loud and clear. “In a perfect world, we would have a say in running this market, in partnership with another party,” he said. “The market authority has generally done a good job here and it has politely consulted with tenants when decisions are being made. Sometimes our opinions have counted, sometimes they haven’t. But if we could have a genuine input into how this market is run, we believe this market would be assured of a very successful future.”
PwC was appointed to advise on structuring the transactions needed to provide a new basis for the commercial operation of the market independently of Defra. Meetings will continue in the next few weeks, including one with Nick Saphir, who has proposed to tenants that they set up a 50:50 joint venture with himself and a property developer partner.
The consultants’ report is due out in the autumn.
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