Is the Birmingham Indoor Market Closing?

Traders and shoppers are worried about the future of the Birmingham Indoor Market.

This is due to proposals to demolish it and replace it with housing.

The market is on the ground floor of the Edgbaston Street Car Park, which is currently owned by property giant Hammerson.

But it is run by Birmingham City Council and the local authority provides traders with their leases.

Birmingham Indoor Market includes one of the largest fish markets in the UK and traders have been operating there for decades.

However, they have been feeling “tense” after the owner said it could close before their leases expired.

Businesses received a letter informing them of plans to build apartments, student accommodation or a mixture of both.

The firm behind the proposal insisted it was just an application at this stage.

Some sellers hold licences allowing them to stay until 2027 but it is reported that a 20+ year clause can now be exercised by Hammerson.

If the housing plans were approved, the council’s control would cease.

Traders would be compensated and ordered to leave before the end of their contracts.

Market traders believed it should remain open.

Shoe trader Avtar Singh Dulay said: “I’ve been here for 25 years. I will retire if [the market] closes.

“My kids don’t want to take it over. They’ve got their own stuff on.

“It will be sad. More sad for my customers. I’m only here for my customers. They know where to find me.”

Another trader said: “Birmingham is famous for the markets.

“It’s been well-known for so many years. How they just close it down? I don’t get it.

“Where would they move us? What spot is there? We know there’s no space in the city centre for a market.”

Plans for a £1.9 billion redevelopment of Birmingham’s Smithfield site will see residential living, offices, a park and retail and cultural spaces brought to the city.

That scheme will include some kind of market trading space and it is hoped some traders from the Bull Ring will be relocated there.

But this will depend on the two separate projects’ respective timelines and it is possible they could be moved out before a new market is operational.

Hammerson said it was a long-term investor in Birmingham and had played an integral role in its transformation of the city centre.

A letter read: “Hammerson will shortly be submitting a planning application for the redevelopment of the site.

“Its application will propose the demolition of the existing building and the construction of new buildings to be used either as residential apartments or as student accommodation (or a combination of both) along with ground-floor amenity uses including retail and leisure.”