Butchers Market
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Posts
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Shut again today, reminds me of the old Borough Council days when staff had an extra day off after every Bank Holiday !
It is very disappointing. I was in town before Christmas on a late night shopping day. The markets had already closed before 6pm. I know the stall holders work long hours etc but in these days when many businesses are feeling the pinch, it isn’t going to help.
I don’t know if the decision is by the stall holders or the market management.
I spoke to a market trader in the Butchers Market about a month back and he was far from happy about it. He said initially following a vote by traders it was supposed to be open, but allegedly a group of stall holders who wanted it closed held another vote when not all were in attendance. Sounds like an odd process of decision making to me. It’s good that it’s democratic, but it appears it doesn’t always work in the best interest of the markets.
That’s true, it was put to the vote for stall holders. By a narrow majority it was decided to close on the 1st and 2nd January. They are all open as usual tomorrow.
When I was in the Market it was one vote for each tenant.From what I can gather it has suddenly changed this xmas period to a vote for each stall.Tenants who have two or possibly three stalls now have two or three votes instead of as before one vote.This had the effect of the power shifting to possibly those tenants.If those tenants were trading in perishable goods then maybe they would be encouraged not to open and buy in fresh goods after the xmas period,who knows.The Council who manage the market are in the process of trying to rejuvenate the market.The traders who have been charged a rent for this day,should have the opportunity to open if they want.The Peoples Market is open,why close the Butchers Market.I believe that it is weak market management that is to blame by not adhearing to the contracts that have been entered into.
I have to agree with Jim about the weak element here. If you follow the logic of this closing through, a mere majority of traders could actually vote to close the Market whenever it suited them. Whilst I like the idea of majority decisions on as many matters as possible, this is not a matter where this should have occurred.
Traditionally, voting around the Christmas period has been where there is a certain ambivalence about the logic of opening. Thus when Christmas has fallen on a Saturday there has been a debate about whether the Market should tag another two holiday days on to the closure on the Monday and Tuesday. Today, however, is not a holiday day in any recognised sense and any decision to close, majority or not, is, from the point of view of those who have been forced to close, a restraint of trade.
Closing today is unfair (to those who wish to stay open), unwise (from an ongoing business perspective, and may prove to leave the letting authority open to individuals seeking understandable redress.
@jimbow 11113 wrote:
When I was in the Market it was one vote for each tenant.From what I can gather it has suddenly changed this xmas period to a vote for each stall.Tenants who have two or possibly three stalls now have two or three votes instead of as before one vote.This had the effect of the power shifting to possibly those tenants.If those tenants were trading in perishable goods then maybe they would be encouraged not to open and buy in fresh goods after the xmas period,who knows.The Council who manage the market are in the process of trying to rejuvenate the market.The traders who have been charged a rent for this day,should have the opportunity to open if they want.The Peoples Market is open,why close the Butchers Market.I believe that it is weak market management that is to blame by not adhearing to the contracts that have been entered into.
One tenant one vote is fair, the new system sounds bizarre and convoluted.
There are areas where tenants should not have votes Liam because they are opting to make decisions that affect the rights of other traders to go around their business as agreed to by all tenants when they uptake a lease.
This is standard practice across business and the idea that legitimate trading days can be sacrificed by voting seems bizarre. I recognise that if a vote is allowed and a majority is registered that my instincts suggest an adherence to the majority view. That is precisely why no vote should ever have occurred
Liam, You could write a book about a market.The characters,the arguments on what you can sell or not sell,position in market,etc etc.The problems in Wrexham Markets some of which have been sorted were:- charging a new tenant £150 legal fee on taking a stall.A months rent as a bond,a months rent in advance.A new tenant could have to put up front in the region of £1200 just for a market stall.Items recharged by the Council as a service charge to the tenant instead of being covered by the rent,include £400 to change an electric light bulb in the Butchers Market,they have to hire a cherry picker.£10,000 for a floor scrubber,which at the end of the day the tenant doesn’t own.Automatic doors have been charged to tenants at up to £5000 per year.You say the new system sounds bizarre and convoluted,the same can be said of the Council.
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