A popular Sunday market at Canada Water is facing closure after the company had its licence revoked by the council.
This will be the last weekend of the market (Sunday 30 March), which is operated by The Market Network in Deal Porter Square and welcomes 25-30 traders every week.
Southwark Council claims the company, which also runs weekly markets in Wapping and Tower Hill, ‘did not meet the conditions of its licence’.
However, William Cutteridge, who owns The Market Network, disputes this entirely: “We have always paid our rent promptly and we are fully up to date on payments,” he told the News. “There are no valid grounds for them to terminate our licence.”
Cllr John Batteson, cabinet member for climate emergency, jobs and business, said: “It’s very important to us, and residents, that people have nice things to do in their local area, like shopping at a local market, and that small businesses can thrive.
“This is why we need to ensure that they operate in a safe and regulated way. Deal Porter Market trades at Canada Water throughout the week, 10am-8pm Monday to Saturday, and the council licenses those businesses individually.
“However, Canada Water Market is managed differently and opens on Sundays only. It is operated privately by The Market Network, which charges a higher fee for stallholders to trade. It opened in April 2022 but unfortunately, the operator has consistently not met the conditions of its licence, and therefore it has been revoked.”
William’s real concern was for the regular stallholders who now risk losing income because of this. These include the owners of Jou Jou’s Bites, Fiesta Gözleme, Fabs Ceramics and Mr Porchetta.
“People’s livelihoods are at risk for no good reason whatsoever,” he claimed. “There are so many traders that rely heavily on this income week to week to live their lives.
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“It seems a totally erratic decision that’s been made without knowledge of the knock-on consequences on normal people’s lives.”
He has started a petition to save the market.
The council spokesperson added that there would be no changes to market trading at Deal Porter Market throughout the rest of the week and they would be ‘looking at ways to support individual traders to continue operating on Sundays at Deal Porter Square.’
Fabiana Faria Da Cunha, who is Head of Markets at the Market Network said: “The livelihoods of not only my own career but also the traders who rely on these markets are under serious threat due to the erratic and unjust decisions made by Southwark Council.”
“We are simply trying to support new and small food enterprises, giving them the opportunity to access hungry audiences and thrive in a competitive market. This is our purpose, and it’s something we’ve been passionate about since day one.”
William argued that although they charged a higher fee for stallholders, it was justified by the effort they made to increase footfall – including giving their traders access to marketing, content creation, and ensuring there is seating to fit up to 100 customers.
