Rochdale Market is to close after 768 years - council bosses say it is ‘no longer financially viable’

Rochdale’s 768-year-old market is to close after town hall bosses deemed it to be ‘no longer financially viable’.

Both the outdoor market, currently located on The Butts, and the indoor food hall in the former Santander building will cease trading from mid-October.

The market has been run by the council since September last year, when it severed ties with the specialist firm it appointed to oversee the operation in 2017.

The authority had previously taken back control of the market charter after its long-time base at the Exchange Shopping Centre was sold in 2013.

But bosses say the last 12 months have seen the number of regular traders halved, resulting in losses of between £3k and £4k per month after costs are deducted.

According to the council there have been four days over the past year - including two Saturdays - when no stallholders turned up, while on nine others only one trader was present.

Chiefs say that although they have been successful in luring new businesses into vacant town centre shops, there has not been the same level of interest in the market.

However traders complained that the new outdoor market was ‘not fit for purpose’, lacking protection from the elements and basic facilities such as heating and lighting.

Many were also furious when Friday was axed as a trading day, and a new artisan market was brought in on one Saturday a month, displacing them from their usual patch.

The indoor market also failed to take off - and was dealt a major blow in April when Rochdale’s Choice Family Butcher pulled out after just five months, leaving just two traders and a cafe.

However council leader Allen Brett has bullishly defended the move - and says the market is only closing ‘in its current form’.

He said: “We are not losing a market because the market is hardly existing - we will still have a market, we will have the artisan market (which comes to Rochdale on one Saturday every month).

“We are not losing a market, but the market in its present form will not be trading.”

Coun Brett said the artisan market could potentially operate in Rochdale more frequently.

“We have still got the market charter, we will still run markets as and when they need to be run,” he added.

But he was clear that the market had come to the end of the road, financially.

“We can’t subsidise it to the tune of £5k a month,” he said: “They’ve already been subsidised for several months while we make savings elsewhere, it’s not fair on rate-payers in Rochdale.”

The council says efforts to maintain the market, including giving rent-free periods to traders and subsidising bills, had not been successful.

Stallholders’ proposals for running the market themselves were not said to be ‘not viable’ by the council after ‘careful consideration’.

Coun Brett denied that the council had failed the town’s market traders. 

“No, I don’t think the council has let them down, we’ve given them every opportunity going,” he said.

Some councillors have been of the opinion  traders would need to wait for the new Rochdale Riverside development to open next Easter before seeing a real upsurge in footfall.

But the council says it cannot continue to lose money in the meantime - although Coun Brett added: “If someone wants to come back with some plans, then we will look at them.”

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Traders have been told the council's market manager will support stallholders who would like to relocate to other markets in the borough or any other suitable location.

A spokesman added: “Special events, which have worked well since they were introduced, will continue and the council will look to build on these in the future.

"The market hall is in a prime location in the heart of Rochdale town centre and we will be working on alternative uses for this important building going forward.”

Rochdale became one of the first towns in Lancashire to obtain a market charter when it was granted in 1251.

Since 2015 traders have moved from their long time home in the Exchange Shopping Centre to temporary sites in Smith Street and Yorkshire Street.

The  long-delayed move to The Butts, in August last year, was meant to see the renaissance of the market and play a key role in revitalising the town centre.

The final trading day for Rochdale market will be Monday, October 14.

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