Trouble in paradise | 25 June 2011

Borough food market has a reputation as London’s finest. But all is not well under the arches, as Patrick McGuigan finds out

Visit Borough Market on a Saturday morning and it seems obvious why many consider it to be London’s best food market. Vast crowds surge around stalls filled with unpasteurised cheese, sourdough breads and perfectly aged beef, while takeaway stands keep visitors nourished with posh venison burgers and paella served from wide open pans.

But despite appearances, all is not well in foodie paradise. Last year, the market’s last remaining wholesalers announced they were suing the charitable trust that runs Borough in a dispute over leases that would lead to them being forced out. That case has since been dropped. Two of the complainants left the market, but traders who remain have told me they are angry about issues including rent rises, spot checks on food by management and a big increase in tourist visitors at the expense of serious food shoppers.

The market’s management style has also been criticised for heavy-handedness, with traders claiming they operate in ‘a climate of fear’. The situation has not been helped by major construction work by Network Rail, which has meant large sections of the market have been temporarily closed, with traders moved around.

Tensions boiled over spectacularly in May when the Board of Trustees evicted seven traders, mainly small cheese and charcuterie merchants. Their offence was to have traded at nearby Maltby Street and Druid Street, where food companies have started opening up their warehouses under the railway arches to sell directly to the public.

A ten-minute walk from the market, Maltby Street has been tipped as a rising star of the London food scene, but Borough is also facing stiff competition on its doorstep from the new Bermondsey Farmers’ Market and the nearby Real Food Market, which has gone from being monthly to weekly.