Agenda item

Report of the Director of Property Services and Development

To consider two petitions relating to Coventry Market, bearing 723 and 549  signatures. 

The petitions are sponsored by Councillors R Bailey and J Blundell respectively  who have been invited to attend the meeting for the consideration of this item, along with the Petition Organisers.

The Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change considered a report of the Director of Property Services which indicated that Coventry Market is a hugely important asset which has been serving Coventry’s communities since the 1950s. The Market has 150 stalls and sells a huge variety of goods and services and is a key footfall generator for the city centre. However, similar to the retail sector and “High Streets” generally, the Market has been struggling for many years in terms of vacancy levels, the trading environment and financial performance (the Market currently operates at a loss to the Council of c.£80k per year).

The Market is located on Rover Road and is adjacent to the Council’s flagship regeneration scheme for the city, City Centre South (CCS), where £450m of public and private investment is transforming the city centre and delivering over 1,500 new homes, new business and job opportunities and high quality landscaped public spaces and streets. The Council has been working for a number of years to seek to ensure that any negative impacts arising from the scheme on the Market are minimised and that the Market can benefit from the investment and new residents who will live within the surrounding area.

The report highlights two key elements from this ongoing prioritisation of the Market. Firstly, a key focus of the negotiations by Council officers with the CCS developer when the scheme was being designed was to ensure that the impact on the Market and traders was minimised as far as possible. This included securing that the Market could remain open and trading during the demolition works, construction and delivery of the scheme; that appropriate servicing arrangements were put in place so that the traders could continue to service their businesses without major disruption; and to ensure that any negative impacts from the hoardings were minimised wherever possible. 

Furthermore, as part of the preparatory work for CCS, the Council put a huge amount of energy into negotiating with the previous owners of the Market, Royal London, to take the ownership of the Market back from them to put the Council in a stronger place to be able to secure investment to deliver longer term improvements for the Market and its traders. The Council took ownership back of the Market in November 2024 (before then the Council only managed it on behalf of the owners Royal London). The arrangements during the period when Royal London owned it and the Council managed it meant that neither party was incentivised to invest in improving the Market so capital spend has been minimal for many years. This has meant that the building has deteriorated and there has been no investment planning aligned with a forward looking management strategy to make the Market relevant for 21st century retail needs.  

Whilst options for longer term improvement are worked up for consideration, there is a more immediate challenge. The delivery of the CCS scheme requires a significant part of the city centre to be hoarded off whilst demolition and construction occurs. This is necessary to ensure the safety of the public and the contractors working on the site. The hoardings are necessarily located very close to the Market and its entrances and the Council recognises that this may be having an impact on footfall and the trading environment for the stallholders.

Recognising the direct impact of the CCS works on the trading environment of the Market, the report proposed that proportionate and time limited financial support is provided to Market traders. Firstly, rent relief (including Service Charge), to be effected by providing traders with the equivalent of two quarter’s rent concession during the 2026 calendar year and one quarter’s rent concession during the 2027 calendar year. This offer would only initially be made available to those traders who are not in an arrears position and it will be effected through a pro rata reduction in traders’ rental payments. It should also be noted that delegated authority (see recommendation 6) was being sought which allows for variations to the criteria set out in the report to be made. 

Secondly, those traders who are liable for Business Rates are currently benefitting from Business Rates relief for 2025/26. It is proposed that this continues for 2026/27 and 2027/28.

As well as the financial support proposed, the report indicated that the Council will continue to engage in dialogue with the Market traders and provide a broad range of communications and marketing support. The Council will also work with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) who have recently appointed an organisation called “Good 2 Great” through its Market Boost programme to provide business support to Market traders and, from January 2026, the Council will be linking this organisation up with a number of traders to provide this support.

The report also indicated that it is important to recognise the significant benefits the CCS scheme will bring to the city and the Market traders. This scheme will realise £450m of investment in the city centre, create high quality, landscaped public spaces next to the Market, provide opportunities for new jobs and businesses and also provide much needed affordable homes. It will also result in thousands of new residents living next door to the Market and there is an opportunity for the Market to become the main amenity, retail and leisure offer for these new residents. The CCS scheme will also significantly improve the servicing arrangements for the Market traders through the provision of a new, covered service yard. The operating environment for the traders will also be greatly enhanced as it will no longer be hidden away behind shops and within poor quality service yards and will instead sit within a new landscaped environment. This provides the context to look at longer term opportunities for investment into the Market and Officers will explore options for funding for these improvements and opportunities to help create a sustainable future for the Market and its traders.

This work will include exploring options for improving the external façade of the Market. The current façade has deteriorated significantly over many decades, looks tired and doesn’t offer an inviting welcome and “front door” for the Market. The Council is proposing to work with key stakeholders, including the CCS developer and Market traders, to identify improvements (such as windows, doors, external lighting, shutters, signage, paintwork etc) for the façade and sources of funding for the work (recognising that the Market is a Grade 2 listed structure). The improvements to the façade are also given greater emphasis by the fact that by mid 2028 the Market will be “opened up” and will sit within fantastic new public realm and next to high quality new homes. Without improvements to the façade, the contrast between old and new will be telling.

Improvements to the external appearance of the Market is only one, albeit necessary, step in helping to create a sustainable trading environment for the traders and a sustainable financial position for the Council. Identifying the longer term “offer” and focus for the Market needs to be a priority and the Council will be working with specialists in the Market sector to identify options and business cases for change and investment in the Market. This work will also be undertaken with the involvement of key stakeholders which will include the CCS developer and Market traders. As options are developed, there will be reports back through Governance approval processes. 

Two petitions have also been received in relation to Coventry Market. The first petition bears a total of 723 signatures and reads:-

“Coventry Market – Improve Access after Disruptions Following Redevelopment”. 

The petition requests:-

i)  Changes to the hoarding and construction barriers in place for the City Centre South development; and

ii)  If no changes are possible then a suspension or lessening of rents

The second petition bears a total of 549 signatures and reads:-

“Support the Coventry Market Traders.  The iconic round market is open but due to building work around it, people thing its closed or cannot find it.  Please support them by visiting and shopping for all kinds of everything”.

One of the petition organisers together with the petition sponsors, Councillors Bailey and Blundell, attended the meeting to present their petitions. The petition organiser present and the sponsors indicated their support for the recommendations contained in the report.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change:-

1)  Considers and notes the two petitions, together with the comments raised at the meeting.

2)  Approves the proposal to provide rent relief to Coventry Market Traders who satisfy the criteria set out in section 3.2.3 of this report to be funded from existing resources.

3)  Notes that the Business Rates relief for applicable Coventry Market traders provided by way of discretion under section 69 of the Localism Act 2011 will be extended to also cover the 2026/27 and 2027/28 calendar year.

4)  Notes that Officers will be exploring options to secure funding to improve the external façade of Coventry Market and any subsequent decision will be the subject of separate Governance approvals as required.

5)  Notes that Officers will be working with specialists and key stakeholders to look at options for long term improvement to Coventry Market to ensure it has a financially viable future and any subsequent decision making will be the subject of separate Governance approvals as required.

6)  Delegates authority to the Director of Property Services and Development, following consultation with the Director of Law and Governance, the Director of Finance and Resources and the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change to take all necessary, incidental or ancillary steps for the carrying into effect any of the recommendations set out in this report including but not limited to the authority to make necessary variations to the criteria set out in section 3.2.3 of this report.