Traders in shock as council suddenly closes St John's Market in Liverpool over unpaid rent

Traders have been left in shock after the council closed a city's market after a rent dispute.

Liverpool City Council said it had been left with "no option" but to close St John's Market, which was founded in 1822, because of more than £1.7m of unpaid rent and service charges dating back nearly four years.

In a statement, the authority said it had attempted to recover the money from 43 traders, with bills dating back to August 2020.

A sign at the market read: "Regrettably, St John's Market is now closed to the public for the foreseeable future."

The market, which has 104 units with 62 occupied, costs the city council just under £1 million a year to subsidise.

The authority says they offered the opportunity to negotiation a repayment of debt but did not receive a "purposeful response".

The market is now closed to the public after the council took action under tenancy legislation. Future use for the site is now under review.

Trader Jonathan Dixon and Reverend Jean Flood believes the closure will have a massive impact on the community.

Jonathan Dixon, who has been trading at St John's Market since it was built in 1969, says it will ruin people's lives.

He said: "It's finishes my livelihood as regards this. But worse than that, I have two staff who I've known for 35 years and who are really personal friends, and it's going to finish their livelihoods as well.

"What the Council have done is pick the part of a lease that suits them and use that as a reason for forfeiture.

"In that lease there are also duties that they have to do and they have failed in those.

"But to do that we have to go to court, so in effect it's a question of how the much money the court case is going to cost."

Reverend Jean Flood, has been supporting traders at the market for 20 years.

She said: "I feel the way it's been handled has been heartbreaking. Getting up and coming to work like you've done every day for years and years in the same place, and then finding that the door's shut on you.

"It's absolutely heartbreaking for the traders and for the knock on effect for the customers as well.

St Johns Shopping Centre remains open and unaffected by the closure.

Councillor Nick Small, Cabinet member for City Development said: “The business owners have now been informed of the situation and will be invited to collect their stock.

"The Council has also offered assistance to help find alternative retail locations for those who wish to continue to operate in the city centre.

“The Council has made this decision to close the stalls very reluctantly, every non-paying business owner was given plenty of time and opportunity to enter into a meaningful dialogue.

“Given the annual cost to the Council of leasing the site for the Market is around £1million a year, it is no longer a viable situation for the businesses to continue to pay no rent, service charges and to offer only a repayment offer of 33% for past and future costs.

"This offer does not represent best value to our residents and has been rejected by the Council.

“Each non-paying business owner owes tens of thousands of pounds to the Council and we cannot continue to subsidise their businesses.

"We have a duty to collect and it’s not fair to continue in this way when we have vital services to protect and other businesses across the city are fully paying their way.”

St John's Market originally dates back to the early 19th century but the original building was demolished in 1964, making way for the St John's Shopping Centre which opened in 1969.The closure of the market hall does not impact on St John's Shopping Centre, which remains fully open for business and is unaffected by this action.

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