Norwich market traders unhappy about 8% rent increase

Norwich's covered market, opposite City Hall, was voted best British market in the Great British Market Awards in 2019

Stallholders from the "best large outdoor market in Britain" have said they are against an 8.3% rent increase.

Labour-run Norwich City Council said the hike would generate £38,000 a year for the local authority.

Trader Josh Worley said it would mean businesses would no longer be "viable".

Adam Giles, councillor for responsibility for the market, said there had been no increases in line with the retail price index (RPI) measure of inflation from 2016 to 2021.

Josh Worley said it felt like traders were being "taken for granted"

Mr Worley, who runs the Water and Earth Stall, said the rise "will have to be passed on".

"Ultimately that might mean that some of them [the stalls] are no longer viable," he said.

"This is a slap in the face that cannot go unchallenged."

A petition has been set up against the rises.

The council can raise rents in line with the RPI - but for several years its rise had been below that, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Sam Bircham said the rise would "make a big difference over the course of a year"

Sam Bircham, from Birchley's Loose Leaf Tea, said: "I'm concerned, not really for myself, but what it means for others here.

"It's a short-term monetary gain that doesn't look at the long-term health of the market."

Tom Loudon, from Substrata, said: "When you are a small business it's always quite volatile - rent goes up, transport goes up, distribution, packaging - and somewhere in there you are trying to keep your product affordable and make a living."

Tom Loudon said if stalls closed, footfall could also be reduced

Green councillor Jamie Osborn, said the market was a "jewel in the Norwich crown" and traders had had a difficult two years.

"If the council wants to bring people back into the city it needs to support local businesses - the market is the heart of Norwich and has been for a thousand years."

Mr Giles said: "There has been no RPI increase for market stall rental between 2016 and 2021 and we have maintained the service charge at the same level as last year.

"The council is under significant financial pressure and needs to maintain and improve the services it provides to the most vulnerable in our community.

"These pressures simply will not allow us to reverse the rent increase."