Local traders at a historic British market are in a race against time to raise £15m to stop it falling into the hands of private equity firms.
Brixton Market dubs itself “London’s most diverse and vibrant market”, with over 100 vendors representing more than 50 countries.
The market began life on Atlantic Road in the 1870s, with covered arcades built in the 1920s and 1930s.
In 2018 it was purchased by global investment firm TPG Angelo Gordon and property management company Hondo Enterprises, who put it up for sale last year.
Under their stewardship, traders have repeatedly complained that the market was being turned into a “ghost town” on the back of soaring rents.
The market is now being pitched to unnamed private equity firms for £50m as part of “a plan to drive £1.2m in increased profits by evicting tenants paying lower rents,” Londonist reported.
The original six-month consultation window was scrapped without warning, leaving only days before bidding closes on 22 June.
In response, the Brixton Traders and Community Association have launched a ‘Buy Back Brixton’ counter-bid, with support from The Advocacy Academy.
They have set a fundraising target of £15m to launch a bid to bring the market into community ownership.
“Brixton Market as we know it could disappear,” the two groups said in a joint statement.
“Local traders actively create the wealth that is then taken out of the community by private interests, and yet are told time and time again that their needs don’t matter and that they are replaceable by other businesses/chains who can compete with rising rents, despite being the ones to build this space into what it is.
“We now have two choices. We can either accept that the market will always be run by developers who don’t live here, don’t have any ties to the community, and only see our people as cash cows – or we do something about it. For us, the choice is clear.”