Birmingham’s Bull Ring Indoor Market could collapse within two years, worried traders have warned.

They say the negative impact of ‘years of poor management’, a lack of investment and never-ending redevelopment works around the city centre will be compounded by the introduction of a clean air zone from 2020.

Drivers of older cars are set to be charged between £6 to £10 to enter the city centre area.

With competition from loss-leading supermarkets and family financial pressures, traders are increasingly worried for the future of the city's 852-year-old markets.

In recent years, they’ve been hit by the redevelopment of New Street and Grand Central, the closing down of the top end of Hurst Street and the shifting of many bus services.

Looking down a passage towards the bottom end past closed units
Looking down a passage towards the bottom end past closed units

Paradise Queensway's closure for a year from September 3 has brought more traffic accessibility issues to the city.

In late September, we reported how traders on the Outdoor Market were struggling to stay in business.

Ten weeks later, the Indoor Market traders say they haven't even got a Christmas tree to lighten the gloom.

And around one in five of its 80 stalls are currently empty.

You can watch traders voicing their concerns on the above video and on one below, too.

As with every year this century, all Bull Ring Market traders are again facing end-of-year competition from the Birmingham German Market in Victoria Square and New Street.

They don't mind that – but wish it was next door to them in Edgbaston Street so that everyone could benefit equally from the influx of tourists.

A food section of the Bull Ring Indoor Market
A food section of the Bull Ring Indoor Market

Indoor Tenants’ Association Sean Uzell still prefers to look on the bright side.

He said the current economic adversity meant the market should actually be booming – if only the city council would invest in its infrastructure, make rents and other charges fairer and do some promotional work.

“Markets are all about shoppers and businesses coming together and knowing we can offer a good service at a price where we can make a living," he said.

Plenty of room for the German Market? Edgbaston Street view between the Bullring (left) and Bull Ring Markets (right)
Plenty of room for the German Market? Edgbaston Street view between the Bullring (left) and Bull Ring Markets (right)

“A market is also about the experience – convenience, an environment you feel safe in, and something you will tell your friends about.

“Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising, social media and the rest is only a small part of it.

“People come back to me and say how delighted they are the keys I cut for them work first time.

Ticking timebomb: the clock in the middle of the Bull Ring Indoor Market
Ticking timebomb: the clock in the middle of the Bull Ring Indoor Market

"But the overheads (compared with the amount of trade we currently have) are ridiculous, they just aren’t realistic now."

Other traders were less optimistic – some said the day of reckoning could be two years away while T-shirt seller Lakbir Singh predicted a crisis within 12 months.

Leading city historian Prof Carl Chinn said: “This (situation) has been coming for a long time and the council needs to do something quickly.

Lunch at Lesley's - Traditional Chef: closed.
Lunch at Lesley's - Traditional Chef: closed.

“There’s a feeling among many people that if the elite of Birmingham wanted markets they would invest in them like other cities and boroughs have done.

“Bus stops have been removed the tram only comes in from one route.

"More work should have been done to create multiple gateways to the city centre.

"There should be a future for markets because they can bring in money (for the council).

Pearce's Shellfish with a historic Bull Ring markets photograph on the corner
Pearce's Shellfish with a historic Bull Ring markets photograph on the corner

“Without any imagination and investment, the markets will continue to decline and decline and become a shadow of their former selves.

“I can also understand people who are now afraid to go into town.

“There are areas where we need a stronger police presence and more help for the homeless and people on the streets.

“When Andy Street became West Midlands Mayor he said he would sort that problem out within weeks and hasn’t done.”

A Bull Ring Market scene in the 1890s

Proud history

The Bull Ring market dates back to 1166 when Peter de Birmingham obtained a market charter from Henry II.

After rapidly expanding during the Industrial Revolution, Birmingham was granted city status by Queen Victoria in 1889.

The Bull Ring markets have since survived two World Wars and the construction of two major shopping centres – the Bull Ring in 1964 and its modern Bullring replacement in September, 2003.

The current Indoor Market opened on September 28, 2000 during the redevelopment of the Bullring on the other side of Edgbaston Street where the Indoor Market was previously.

The floor slopes away from Edgbaston Street
The floor slopes away from Edgbaston Street

What are the symptoms of the Indoor Market's malaise?

Traders say footfall is well down on peak years that it has fallen significantly year-on-year for the last six years.

There are currently some 18 empty stalls out of around 80 – and some traders predicted there could be more in the New Year.

Those hanging on have cut back on the number of people they employ while some accuse management of not enforcing rules and regulations on all traders equally.

Some of the stall legs are rusting
Some of the stall legs are rusting

While traders are now responsible for taps and sinks, some said their counters were being held together with masking tap – with supports rusting out of sight underneath.

The Indoor Market was built on a slope for reasons the traders do not understand and some workers are now suffering health problems with bad knees and backs.

Traders said loyal customers told them they were put off from visiting more regularly by transport problems and high parking charges.

Some stall counters are held together with tape
Some stall counters are held together with tape

In addition, there was the citywide rise in anti-social behaviour, with 'drug addicts gathering outside' in the dark.

Even in broad daylight last Tuesday morning, when I took the spiral staircase next to Debenhams to walk down to Edgbaston Street from Smallbrook Queensway, I had to pass two men lying motionless on the floor.

What do traders say?

BirminghamLive spoke to five traders with more than 120 years’ experience between them.

And the overriding message from all of them was that they just had to speak up as a cry for help.

They would all like to see the German Market moved from New Street to Edgbaston Street to bring football to them at the busiest time of the year 'in the same way that Manchester supports its own year-round traders'.

Having had all of the disruption during the rebuilding of New Street Station / Grand Central, they feared the future redevelopment of the former Wholesale Market into Smithfield would plunge the local area back into building site mode for years to come.

Stall unit available sign
Stall unit available sign on the Bull Ring Indoor Market

The Indoor Tenants’ Association view

Chairman Sean Uzell has been a trader for more than 30 years and estimates the Indoor Market supports around 250 jobs.

The Indoor Tenants’ Association has four meetings per year with management.

Sean, now 51, said he has missed just five meetings in 25 years since he went to his first one at the age of 26.

But he has become increasingly disillusioned at their purpose.

With his chairman’s hat on he said: “The city council only seem to be interested in employing a private law firm to send threatening letters of eviction to tenants if they don’t bring their rent up to date, which is near impossible at £70 per sq ft.

“It would be interesting to know why they employ a private law firm when they have their own in house legal department and more over who is picking up the bill for this.

“We’ve often thought of going to the Press but always hoped the council would listen to us first. But they won’t.

The Eating Place - stall unit now available
The Eating Place - stall unit now available

“What’s also happening now is that several local off-street (cheaper) car parks in and around Pershore Street have been sold off to developers to build apartments – people just can’t get to us any more.

“The Rag Market used to sell materials, but now people can sell anything there.

“So many of the Rag Market's stalls now duplicate what we have here on the Indoor Market, so now we effectively have two 'indoor markets'. How many phone stalls do we need?

Another Bull Ring Indoor Market 'trading opportunity' sign
Another Bull Ring Indoor Market 'trading opportunity' sign

“And what is the ‘market experience’? There’s no entertainment here yet Borough Market in London is wonderful.

“We’ve had too many market management staff over the years who have come to us from other council departments.

“Because they don’t know anything about the job, it means the market is not being properly managed.

“It’s like a ship without a captain.”

A keyring at Heel Stop with Birmingham on a Union flag background
A keyring at Heel Stop with Birmingham on a Union flag background

Sean Uzell – boot repairer and key cutter

Sean has been repairing shoes and cutting keys since 1987 when he first started up on his own with a shop in Stourbridge.

He bought his father's indoor market stall around 1993/94 when it was on the other side of Edgbaston Street next to the bus station.

Before that the market was on the old Manzoni Gardens site where his now 82-year-old father “my name’s Arthur, but call me Frank” first began trading in 1963.

Frank did so well there he took on a shop in the Bull Ring after it opened in 1964 and was the last business in the centre to close down in 1999 prior to its redevelopment.

Sean Uzell with dad Frank on the Heel Stop stall
Sean Uzell with dad Frank on the Heel Stop stall

Today, Heel Stop in the current indoor market supports two jobs including Sean's, with a third member of staff recently let go.

Frank still comes down to help his son whenever he can.

We talk for 90 minutes on a Tuesday and barely a customer walks past Sean’s stall, never mind one who needs his expert services.

Sean, who once ran half-a-dozen shops, says: “You can see how quiet it is. Although we are a six-day market, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays were always the busiest.

“Unless we are given an audience, we can’t sell our wares.

"And this what we have been demanding from the council for the last seven or eight years."

An empty aisle of stalls at the Bull Ring Indoor Market
An empty aisle of stalls at the Bull Ring Indoor Market

The food side of the market did come alive for an hour at noon during my visit.

Suddenly, there was hustle, there was bustle... and the market felt like a great place to be.

But the exciting buzz was short lived.

“In the words of the former council leader Sir Albert Bore, getting to the Indoor Market has become an ‘obstacle course’," added Sean.

Closed: Summit Records est 1976
Closed: Summit Records est 1976 - the toliets are on the left

“We were never consulted over the closure of Hurst Street six years ago.

“What does ‘the pedestrian experience’ do for us, if it means motorists now have to drive a long way round to get from Pershore Street to the car park above the market?

“Management are just doing the bare minimum.

“As the Second City, Birmingham should be selling itself as one of the best markets in the country.”

Greg Pearce of Pearce's Shellfish on the Bull Ring Indoor Market
Greg Pearce of Pearce's Shellfish on the Bull Ring Indoor Market

Greg Pearce – shellfish

Pearce’s Shellfish is one of the legendary names of the Bull Ring Market.

The business was established 180 years ago by Aram Pearce, and 56-year-old Greg Pearce is the fifth generation.

His stall supports six jobs, including his own, with two part-time staff helping on Saturdays.

Pearce's Shellfish with a historic Bull Ring markets photograph on the corner
Pearce's Shellfish with a historic Bull Ring markets photograph on the corner

With his son, Michael, allergic to shellfish even if he doesn’t eat it, the business is facing the end of the family line.

Assistant Laura, 31, is leaving in the New Year to have her first baby - having worked on the stall since she was 15.

Greg said: “I started working on the market when I was eight and have been here full-time for 40 years since I was 16.

The Oyster Bar at Pearce's Shellfish
The Oyster Bar at Pearce's Shellfish

“Business is now going down year on year.

“When we first moved in to here (in 2000) there was an initial jump in trade.

“But the last two years especially have been so tough we are 25 per cent down.

“It takes so much hard work and generations of families to build up a market.

“We (traders) formed the heart of this city centre which was built around the markets.”

Alan Doherty of A&P Doherty Butchers
Alan Doherty of A&P Doherty Butchers

Alan Doherty – butcher

Now 72, Alan still puts in a full shift on the A&P Doherty stall where the produce still looks a cut above.

“Look how well hung that is,” he said proudly, holding up a giant piece of meat.

His stall supports five jobs, including his own.

Choice cuts from A&P Doherty on the Bull Ring Indoor Market
Choice cuts from A&P Doherty on the Bull Ring Indoor Market

“I started in butchery 50 years ago when I was 12 and it became my job at 15 when I left school.

“I’ve been on the Bull Ring this stall since 1985, having spent ten years managing a stall for another company from 1975.

“This market opened in 2000 but in 2001 we were hit by the foot and mouth disease outbreak.

Doherty's famous for ribs - A&P Doherty
Doherty's famous for ribs - A&P Doherty

“Then they closed Hurst Street and customers were saying: ‘How can we get to you now to pick up our freezer orders?’

“The council has never once done anything to help us with signage.

“(And while trade keeps falling) there has been no reduction in rent, service charge or business rates.

One of the Bull Ring Indoor Market's empty units
One of the Bull Ring Indoor Market's empty units

“There are so many charges we have to pay.

“We have lost half of our business in the last ten years and sometimes supermarkets are selling meat at the same price that I pay wholesale.

“It’s twice as hard to get a customer back once you’ve lost them.

“We feel like we are no longer part of the city centre retail offering yet we are paying £6,000 per month for the stall.

An empty food stall
An empty food stall

“Why don’t they bring the German Market to Edgbaston Street?

“December should be our best retail month.”

Alan said he was also worried about the clean air charge for people to enter the city in older cars impacting on trade, too.

“People find it hard enough to drive to us now,” he added.

“The clean air zone won’t help (our business) – our customers are not driving new BMWs.”

Lakbir Singh on his T-shirt stall on the Bull Ring Indoor Market

Lakbir Singh – T-shirts

Compared with Sean, Alan and Greg, Lakbir is a comparative newbie on the Indoor Market.

But even in his six-and-a-half years he has noticed how trade is declining – to the point that he has opened a shop at 487 Bearwood Road in Bearwood to support his online business, Razers Edge.

Lakbir says: “I’ve got 20 times the space in the shop for what I am paying here.

Lakbir Singh's Razers Edge at Unit 34 sells official T-shirts
Lakbir Singh's Razers Edge at Unit 34 sells official T-shirts

“You can’t sustain a business here with the amount of footfall we are now getting.

“I am also having to deal with another stall.

"Management are not doing their job even though Trading Standards have been involved.

“I think the council would be doing me a favour if they closed the market.

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“People don’t come here any more because of the transport, parking and ‘homeless’ situation.

“I’ve worked for the council dealing with the homeless and a lot of the (anti-social) people now are not genuine homeless.”

Lakbir’s merchandise includes classic rock T-shirts featuring bestsellers Pink Floyd, The Beatles and Iron Maiden.

New in this week, an official Peaky Blinders’ range – all fully licensed.

View of the Bull Ring Indoor Market and car park above from Smallbrook Queensway
View of the Bull Ring Indoor Market and car park above from Smallbrook Queensway

“I am stuck in a (music) time warp because I love The Verve, The Jam and Oasis,” Lakbir smiled, before regretting how other times have changed.

“When coach tours used to come to Birmingham, the drivers would tell the passengers: ‘Go to the markets, first’," he said.

“Now they say ‘Go to the Bullring shopping centre’.

“The German Market is seen as a tourist attraction for people coming to Birmingham from outside of the city – and the view is that the Bull Ring Markets do not matter.

“Our Indoor Market must be the only one in the country without a proper cafe.

A material stall on the Bull Ring Indoor Market
A material stall on the Bull Ring Indoor Market

“We don’t need a tram (in the city centre) because all the shops between Snow Hill and New Street are being missed out.

“I don’t think the market will be here in 12 months purely because it’s going to get to the point where there are so many empty units.

“Trade has been deteriorating slowly for three to four years but now it’s falling off a cliff with seven local car parks closed in six months for developers to build apartments.

“At 5.30pm it can now take 40 minutes just to get out of the car park – it’s all right driving in, but it can take you an hour to get out.

"And I've now only got one way to drive to Edgbaston, not five, after the council did not consult anybody.

Pigs feet on the counter of a halal stall
Pigs feet on the counter of a halal stall

“There are (traders in) rent arrears – and the council has no money.

“To get compensation if it closes... we’d have to take a class action and wait five years for it to go to court.”

Would he want to relocate to any new market at Smithfield?

“I don’t think so because – technical terms – that is the a*** end of town.

“Everybody knows Digbeth needs so much investment.”

Anne-Marie Kent and her aunt, Leonie Brown, on The Nuts Centre stall
Anne-Marie Kent and her aunt, Leonie Brown, on The Nuts Centre stall on the Bull Ring Indoor Market

Leonie Brown – nuts

The Nut Centre is near to the Indoor Market’s entrance next to the Rag Market.

The business was founded in 1942 by an Italian family and bought by Leonie Brown in 2010, who has worked on the market since she was 15.

“The original owner came to see me recently and couldn’t believe how the market has declined,” she said.

Fruit and nut description at The Nut Centre on the Bull Ring Indoor Market
Fruit and nut description at The Nut Centre on the Bull Ring Indoor Market

“At the moment, I’d give it two years before there are real problems.

“The Indoor Market hasn’t even got a Christmas tree this year.

“They should bring the German Market down here to Edgbaston Street so that it would bring lots more people down.

“Our customers say they don’t feel safe in this area at night – there can be lots of people outside on drugs at 5.30pm.”

The Bull Ring Indoor Market entrance on Edgbasto Street close to The Nut Centre
The Bull Ring Indoor Market entrance on Edgbaston Street close to The Nut Centre

Everybody you talk to on the market knows someone who is struggling physically from standing up all day in an environment where the floor is sloping, too.

Leonie’s niece Anne-Marie Kent is one of them.

“I’ve just had two days in hospital and had an MRI scan,” said Anne-Marie.

“I’ve got a degenerative fourth disc in my back – at 35.”

Transport

With no underground system, Birmingham relies on an ever-changing road network to service buses, taxis and cars.

In May, 2016 the Midland Metro tram extension from Snow Hill to New Street Station finally opened after years of building work and there is currently a four-year scheme to extend it to Five Ways.

The Debenhams Bullring Car Park above the Indoor Market
The Debenhams Bullring Car Park above the Bull Ring Indoor Market

But Sean Uzell said: “The tram only comes from one direction – and that’s Wolverhampton.

“The buses that used to stop on Corporation Street used to come from all over.

“They have moved so many buses away from the markets area and blocked off Hurst Street, too."

A CGI of plans for the markets as part of the Birmingham Smithfield regeneration scheme
A CGI of plans for the markets as part of the Birmingham Smithfield regeneration scheme

City council response

A spokesman for Birmingham City Council said: "The council is fully committed to the Bull Ring Markets – which have been at the heart of the city for over 850 years – and continues to support traders across the three sites, especially as we transition to the new Smithfield development, where markets will remain a vital part of the offer.

"Further information about Birmingham Smithfield can be found on the council website on this link here."

Replying to a previous complaint from a trader about standards on the Indoor Market, a city council spokesman said: "The Markets Service regularly meets with the Indoor Market Traders Committee to discuss traders’ concerns and identify ways to address and resolve them.

A CGI of plans for Birmingham Smithfield, on the giant Wholesale Markets site in Birmingham
A CGI of plans for Birmingham Smithfield, on the giant Wholesale Markets site in Birmingham

"Under their lease conditions, Indoor Market tenants are responsible for the maintenance and repair of fixtures and fittings, such as sink units.

"Both the service and tenants are bound by the conditions of the lease.

"Traders will only lose their units if they are found to be breaching the terms of their lease.

"The Indoor Market has a maintenance technician and cleaners on-site to deal with any issues that may arise on a day-to-day basis.

"A pest control contract is also in place to ensure all common areas are kept free of any infestations, however it is the trader’s responsibility to ensure their unit is kept pest-free."