Bullring market traders forgotten by city council says Mayoral candidate

Beverley Nielsen meets one of the Bullring market traders

Stall-holders from Birmingham’s historic Bullring market have filed a class action suit against the city council, demanding lower rents and rates, in a long-running row about their leases.

Around 30 tenant traders have been in dispute with their local authority landlord since 2010, when their previous leases expired, and they claim all requests for new leases have since been ignored.

The traders have found an ally in their fight, in the form of Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate, Beverley Nielsen.

Speaking after visiting the market, she said: “I’d seen so much about the wholesale markets being relocated to The Hub, in Witton, and wondered what was happening to the traders still using stalls around the Bullring.

“I was dismayed to discover they’d been in dispute with the council for years.”

She said that in her opinion, the local authority should be using the market’s heritage to attract visitors to the city and to use the facility as a tourist attraction in the same way European cities such as Barcelona, Rotterdam and Valencia do.

“Instead, I met disillusioned traders who – because the council won’t give them new leases – are prevented from selling their businesses on, relocating or even retiring. All the council’s focus has been on the wholesale markets and Birmingham Smithfield, but the indoor, outdoor and rag markets appear to have been forgotten,” said Ms Nielsen.

“The markets are no longer being properly promoted, local roads have been closed, buses have been re-routed, with drop-off points moved away from the markets, and so the traders have seen a marked reduction in their footfall and revenues.

”Delivering a scheme of which Birmingham can be proud, needs a clear vision, strategic leadership and an ability to combine commercial nous with awareness of the requirements of the traders. It’s no wonder they’ve become so frustrated that they have taken this class action.”

The 13 stall-holders involved are being advised on a pro-bono basis by Jonathan Owen, the founder and joint managing director of Quarterbridge Project Management, who will also act as an expert witness.

Ms Nielsen said Mr Owen knew the market, its traders and city centre intimately, having advised the consortium of developers known as the Birmingham Alliance which delivered the £530m Bullring redevelopment, together with its anchor department store, Selfridges.

Mr Owen said the stall-holders, many of whom had been trading at the market for most of their working lives, had been shabbily treated by the council.

He said the council needed to communicate better with the traders and to understand their specific needs.

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