Traders' plan for alternative market for town

Traders want to set up an alternative market to the one planned by their local council.

Market tenants in Birkenhead, Wirral, want to move into the town's vacant Marks & Spencer unit, rather than the complex planned for the former Argos.

They said their site - which would cost them about £1m to refurbish - was in a busier part of town.

Wirral Council approved moving the market from the Grange precinct in March.

The Marks & Spencer store, off St Johns Square in the Grange, has been empty since 2018.

Alan Featherstone, who runs The Big Flower Shop, has applied for a market rights licence which, if granted, would allow a new market to operate in the borough.

The Birkenhead Market Tenants Association said the Marks and Spencer plans were “well-received” by members and said it was an “exciting project.”

The costs for a £1m refurbishment of the unit is expected to be paid for by Mr Featherstone and other traders.

According to a 2023 report, Marks & Spencer's lease on the £235,000-a-year rent building is due to expire in 2042.

Wirral Council had looked at moving the market there in 2019 but said costs were too high as the retailer would have to surrender its lease.

The council has said it had committed to working with traders to develop the Argos plans further.

It has also said it believed the Argos plan - which would use a £14.4m government grant - was the only way a new market could be delivered.

The council and Marks & Spencer have been approached for comment.