New Covent Garden Market celebrating its 50th year of operations. Last week an event was held at the market to celebrate British Food Fortnight where traders and growers were brought together to celebrate the high quality of British produce. The market's diverse mix of 200 tenants of all shapes and sizes have a combined turnover of around £700 million and employs in excess of 2,500 people.
New Covent Garden Market primarily supplies the London catering trade and high-end retail. The fruit and vegetables on the market are of the highest quality and while many traders try to source the best of British produce, there was lots of great quality imported produce on display.
Wanda Goldwag, Chair of the market: "It is important that we distribute fresh produce, we have been here for 50 years. The people who work here want to sell fresh British produce. We need to make it easy for them, to get here, to trade and do business. That is why the ongoing renovations are so important, new facilities, old and new tenant's."
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The wholesale market is undergoing a huge transformation, where all of the original buildings are being demolished to make way for the new modern facilities. This is no easy task as the market remains fully operational throughout. Tenants have been moved from their original stands to temporary premises, still onsite, while the buildings are completed. As with any major change, it has not all been plain sailing and some tenants have voiced concerns, but generally they are happy about the changes. The whole project aims to be complete by 2027.
At the moment Buyer's Walk is split in two while the second part of the new Walk is built. There is a stark contrast between new and old. The first part of the new Walk which is now complete with tenants in place is big, bright and very clean. The tenants have been able to custom design their units which have great office space and lots of CA storage. One of the downsides is that it lacks a bit of atmosphere. But the tenants say it is a much better working environment.
Meanwhile the old part which has stood for 50 years maintains the hustle and bustle of the market, but lacks the modern facilities.
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The traders say that the old part gets more of the footfall in the market, which may be due to the fact that there are more of the smaller traders there, while the new part is taken up by just three, bigger companies. It is hoped that when the construction of the second part of the new Buyer's Walk is complete and all the traders are in one place that the they can have the atmosphere and hustle and bustle of the old market as well as the great new facilities.
Gary Marshall, Chairman of the Tenants Association welcomed the growers to the market: "What I'm most passionate about is New Covent Garden Market and the traders here. The guys at this market are second to none. This is the first British wholesale market to be rebuilt on its standing location, while the market continues to operate and we have taken that challenge on, embraced it and in the last 10 years, the turnover of this market has gone up by at least £200 million.
"NCGM is a special, special place and we really want British growers to be part of it. But what we want and need is continuity and quality and we want you to be our partners. We don't want to be an afterthought. If you're 100% with us, then we're 100% with you – there is nowhere else outside of this place with this knowledge and ability."
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The market is also home to the Food Exchange, modern office space that has attracted a buzzy mix of entrepreneurial food businesses, and Mission Kitchen, whose start-up members share commercial kitchen and co-working spaces on their way to becoming the next generation of food industry leaders.
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For more information:
newcoventgardenmarket.com