The Piccadilly Gardens street food market in Manchester will close for the final time on October 22, with traders offered a place at Lincoln Square for this year's Christmas Markets but facing uncertainty beyond those dates.
Traders have told the Manchester Evening News they don't know when they will reopen in 2027. Some seemed more certain that they would remain in Lincoln Square than others. There is concern among some traders that the new site simply won't be suitable for their needs. Manchester council says it is yet to confirm the full details around the future arrangements for the traders, and it 'understands their uncertainty'.
Traders express sadness and worry
"We are so sad," admitted Badr Khayal, of Falafel King. The business has been at Piccadilly Gardens for a decade and in an ideal world, it would remain there. "It's not easy. We've been here for 10 years. Now we are having to go and start again, make new customers. It won't be easy. We are worried. Maybe the new place will not be the same, especially with rents."
Badr was among the traders who was still unclear over how much it would cost to rent a stall at Lincoln Square. They have particular concerns over whether their likely new home would be worth whatever money it costs.
Piccadilly Gardens is one of the busiest parts of Manchester city centre, and traders say they benefit from the passing footfall of workers, shoppers and passengers using the nearby bus, tram and railway stations. For them, Lincoln Square is an unknown quantity. The area between Albert Square and Deansgate - tucked behind Heron House, the home of Number 10 North - last hosted stalls at the Christmas Markets in 2017.
Concerns over footfall and facilities
One trader, who asked not to be named, feared it could be a quieter than other parts of the annual markets. He said: "King Street is good, St Ann's Square is good, the main streets that people know for the Christmas markets. Businesses think [the rent] should be down because it's a new street, it's a cul-de-sac."
Another trader, who worried the rent would be 'too expensive', added: "The problem for us is that this is the city centre. We are paying high rent for this place. But still it's worth it, we've got links to the bus stops, the tram stops, the railway station. When we move to Lincoln Square, or anywhere else, it's not like that. It's like we're in the corner. We don't have the same footfall for the business. Those traders that have been in this area for years, they are going to lose that business and start everything from scratch. It means all their efforts for the last decade were all in vain."
"It's not only the rent. It's the electricity and VAT we have to pay. Are they going to give us relief? Are they going to give us enough publicity for the new location? We don't know that. After the Christmas Markets we don't know where this business is going to be."
While the street food market opens six days a week until 6pm, the Christmas Markets run seven days a week and close at 9pm. One trader said those extra hours would be off-set by business lost after the Piccadilly Gardens market closes though. Different traders had different ideas of when they might be able to reopen at Lincoln Square in the first few months of the year. One trader said March, one said mid-February, while others weren't so sure they would return there at all after the Christmas Markets.
Mixed feelings about the move
"I'll have no job and it's not my fault," one trader said. "It's not right. And this is the council. For me it's a surprise because I trust the council, the council is like a family." "We will stay there for the Christmas Market but then we will have to leave," Badr at Falafel King said. "After Christmas they say it's not guaranteed that we will stay there."
Rita's Reign first broke the news to customers around the impending closure last week. Having been open at the market for seven years, it is one of the most popular businesses at the market. Adam Ali, one of the managers at Rita's Reign, said: "It doesn't feel nice. We're trying to find a shop nearby as a plan B. Lincoln Square is only temporary - it's pretty scary. It's not looking great."
Adam admits there is a degree of uncertainty over how the move to Lincoln Square will go. "It will still be busy for lunch," he said. "It's more corporate over there, at lunch it will be OK. But for customers travelling in [to Manchester], they won't find us at Lincoln Square." He added: "I don't think we are that worried about our regular customers. They will be there, we know that they will go wherever we go."
The Rita's Reign team are concerned that the new stall at Lincoln Square will be smaller than their current one. It's a worry that their neighbours also share. One trader said there was uncertainty over whether Lincoln Square would have adequate facilities for 'basic things' they need - such as places to take water or store gas, and an adequate energy supply. She was one of two who reported being told there would be no gas at all at Lincoln Square, before that stance was reconsidered.
"Whatever we ask, they say 'we don't know'," she said. "They keep us in the dark. Whatever they decide, we have to get on with it. It doesn't work like that." She added: "Just last week they were saying everything will be electric over there. It's very hard to cook commercially on electric. It trips down every time. At Christmas we have to fry 100kg of chicken every day - I don't think you can do that on electric. We need high temperature all the time to maintain food quality, hygiene, to do it properly. They said we are not going to have enough storage space for the gas cylinders. That could be hazardous."
Council promises support
Not all views around the move were negative though. Some traders remarked on how they believed Lincoln Square would be a safer place to do business than Piccadilly Gardens, given the well-documented issues around anti-social behaviour. One trader said the market currently has to close for 'one or two days' every now and then while police investigations follow major incidents, while drug dealing 'takes place between the stalls'. Another added: "To be honest, we are quite happy about it. It's a fresh start. It's new stalls. They've shown us plans of how it's going to be. Piccadilly Gardens is not really the best of areas at the moment, we are happy that we are moving."
For Manchester council, the shake-up is part of the wider regeneration at Piccadilly Gardens - with new green spaces, a revamped play area and an event space, plus the removal of planters which attract anti-social behaviour. It insists it will continue to support the street food traders as the market closes.
A Manchester council spokesperson said: "We're getting on with the task of improving Piccadilly Gardens which we know is what Manchester people want us to do. We can't do the work required with the Piccadilly Gardens market traders in place and they have known for more than a year that they would need to move. We absolutely recognise the importance of markets in our city and want them to continue to succeed in the future. That's why we have promised the traders we will find them a suitable new location in the longer term and will continue to work on finalising this. From November 6, as our busy Christmas Markets return to the city centre, they will be able trade from Lincoln Square - a key route between Albert Square and Deansgate. We understand their uncertainty until we are able to confirm detailed future arrangements in full, but will keep them posted directly and remain committed to supporting their long-term future."
