‘It’s like home’: Brixton market traders fight to stop site being sold to big business

Traders at Brixton market say they are in a battle of “people over profit” after submitting a last-minute plan to stop the site being bought by a private equity firm which they fear could price out longstanding independent businesses.Those behind the Brixton" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="166012" data-entity-type="organization">Buy Back Brixton campaign said they are through to the second stage of a bidding process, competing against multinational companies to buy Brixton-village-and-market-row" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="166013" data-entity-type="location">Brixton Village and Market Row for community ownership.They will find out within days whether their “once in a generation” bid to buy the market – which has been listed for £50m – is successful, after hundreds of people attended a rally in support of their plans.Carole Mourier, owner of Full Moon Designs in the market, said she felt the traders were ‘shaping history’ with their plans. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian“If the market changes any more than it already has, what has been built here will disappear. That’s what we’re fighting for,” said Meera Ghanshamdas, co-chair of the Brixton-traders-community-association" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="166016" data-entity-type="organization">Brixton Traders Community Association (BTCA) and co-director of Roundtable Books in the market.“We want to make this people over profit. This is much more than a commercial space for us. Brixton has a huge cultural legacy, but it also has a resistance history. And people are coming out for that.”Known for being London’s most diverse market, it is home to vendors from more than 50 countries and has a strong African-Caribbean presence from the Windrush community who moved to the area in the 1940s and 50s.Market traders said they have faced rising rents and service charges in recent years, and they feared a new private equity owner would push costs up further to maximise profit from the site.“We have already seen the start of gentrification. Certain shops are not there any more. And there used to be music in every shop – Brazilian, Venezuelan, Jamaican reggae – but we’re not allowed to do that any more,” said Esme, who runs a fruit and vegetable stall she set up 22 years ago to cater to the Caribbean community who could not find produce from their home country.“I just want to know that everything we have here is secure for the next generation, for our children – that there’s still something for them to be a part of.”Meera Ghanshamdas is co-chair of the Brixton-traders-community-association" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="166016" data-entity-type="organization">Brixton Traders Community Association (BTCA) and co-director of Roundtable Books in the market. Photograph: Jill Mead/The GuardianThe site is now owned by a company controlled by Texas millionaire businessman and DJ Taylor McWilliams, who had planned to redevelop the market and build a 20-storey office block – fierce backlash from the community led to that planning application being withdrawn in 2023.It was then put up for sale for £80m, but there appeared to be little interest and traders began discussing community buyout.It was not until June that they found there were numerous interested parties – which they claim include multiple private equity firms – and launched an emergency drive to raise £15m for an initial bid to help them borrow the rest of the money to meet the asking price.Supported by local youth organising group the Advocacy Academy, they have raised £565,000 via an online fundraiser and secured significant investments from charities to submit what they describe as a “comprehensive and competitive” bid.The local Labour MP, Helen Hayes, and Martin Abrams, the leader of Lambeth council – which last week designated the market as an asset of community value to create extra protections – have both backed the bid.Carole Mourier, a jewellery maker and owner of Full Moon Designs in the market, said she felt the traders were “shaping history” with their plans.“We’re the first people to do this, and it would be amazing to succeed. Not just for us, but to also show other places, other markets, that community is really important. People want the community,” she said.Traders said they feared Brixton could head in the direction of other London markets such as Camden – owned by the Israeli billionaire businessman Teddy Sagi – and Old Spitalfields market – owned by luxury property developer Tribeca Holdings. Both have faced criticisms of corporate gentrification in recent years.Oliviero Veneri-Thomas, one of a number of local young people who have joined the campaign, said he had grown up around the market and it was “like a home”.“You can travel all four corners of the globe just going down the road,” he said. “There’s some things that you just can’t quantify by monetary value. It’s the flavours, it’s the spices, it’s the smells, the conversations. So when I heard that was under threat, I thought I can’t just stand by and let private developers make changes to communities.“It would be phenomenal for us as a community to come together and prove this can be done.”