The Greater London Authority has this week published the results of its study on London’s wholesale market sector, which appear to support the recommendations of the report compiled five years ago by Nicholas Saphir.
After considering seven options against a predetermined set of criteria, the recommendations section of the report concludes that consolidation into composite sites offers the best opportunity to sustain the future of the markets
“Consolidation to New Covent Garden, New Spitalfields, or consolidation of Smithfield and Billingsgate to the three other markets all offer the opportunity of sustainability in next 15-20 years,” it said.
The report added however that there are considerable practical and political difficulties involved in any consolidation of the markets. Relocation of Billingsgate to New Covent Garden would probably be the best move in terms of synergies and opportunities, but practical constraints may mean that it is easier for Billingsgate to relocate to New Spitalfields, it said.
The advantages of consolidation at New Covent Garden are: “If the site is redeveloped, and subject to significant intensification, it should be able to provide more capacity for wholesale market functions. The site is well located to serve the central London foodservice market and this sector is anticipated to be the most promising growth area for market revenues.”
New Spitalfields’ plus points are: “The site is large and the GLA’s plot ratio calculations and comparisons suggest it has potential to expand. “New Spitalfields, Billingsgate and Smithfield are all controlled by the City of London and so consolidation is likely to be easier to manage. Informal feedback so far also suggests the Billingsgate tenants would be more likely to support this move than relocating to New Covent Garden,” said the report.
“Consolidation to New Spitalfields could offer the opportunity to free up some of New Covent Garden, which has greater regeneration potential for a broader mix of uses than the New Spitalfields site.
Subject to site masterplanning and costing, the report recommends that Smithfield meat market recommend moves to the same site
as Billingsgate and confirms that the change in the locations of the markets appears to legally allow the other sites to trade in meat and fish if they wish and if they can raise the finance.
The concept of a London Food Hub, put forward by the London Development Authority, is not dismissed, but the report suggests this should be located an an exisiting wholesale market site to “enhance prospects and critical mass”.
Further consultation will now be carried out with market owners and operators, as will more detailed site capacity assessments and masterplanning exercises.
An initial financial appraisal based upon masterplan solutions and cost and revenue estimates to see whether revenues from sale of surplus sites and/or mixed-use development could fund new investment in market consolidation and renewal.
