Smithfield and Billingsgate Markets are relocating to Albert Island in the East London regeneration programme
London’s oldest and best-kept food markets, smithfields and charging, are set to start a new chapter in stall housing after the City of London Corporation confirmed Albert Island as their future home.
The decision marks a dramatic turnaround after both markets were set for closure last year when rising costs forced the company to divest Dagenham. At that time, merchants are afraid that meat and fish forests, which have supplied London for more than eight hundred years, will be completely lost.
Instead, the organization has now transferred a 10-hectare brownfield site in the Royal Docks, near London City Airport, providing a way of life for retailers and preserving a piece of the city’s commercial heritage. The move is subject to approval from Nehamu Council and a private payment move to Parliament to revoke the Deeds legally binding both of their existing sites.
The Corporation estimates the project will generate £750 million in local economic activity and support around 2,200 jobs in one of London’s main attractions. Albert Island’s plans include a new Thames terminal, marina and additional facilities.
Greg Lawrence, Chairman of the Smithfield Market Traders Traders Traders Traders Traders Traders’ Association, welcomed the news, calling it a “Big Step Forward” for the sector.
“This location gives retailers the space and opportunity to grow our businesses while continuing to serve customers in London and the South-East.”
For traders who have worked the markets for generations, the announcement ends months of anxiety and uncertainty. Many feared that a permanent closure would wipe out supply chains for ture-specing appling and the capital’s prominent independent fishmongers and butchers.
The organization faced fierce criticism earlier this year from vendors and many tourists who warned that closing the markets without restoration could cause irreversible damage. Fishmongers from Hackney’s street market, many of whom shop daily at BillIngsGate, have warned the public that the loss of the entire site will put them out of business.
Alicia Weston, founder of food poverty food bags Taste and spokeswoman for people with fish, said the new location “could be more hopeful”.
“What is most important to fishmongers is that there should be a replacement market. Albert Island is not too far from the current site and gives the sellers a fighting chance.”
SmithField has operated near Farringdon for over 800 years, making it one of the oldest continuing markets in the world. Two of its buildings are being converted into a new London Museum, set to open in 2026.
BillingsGate was moved to its current site alongside Shayari Wharf in 1982 and has since been rezoned for housing as part of a wider redevelopment.
Despite the decrease in volumes compared to their previous heyday, the independent report finds the two markets still operate around 10% of all meat and fish consumed in London and the South-East, increasing their importance to the economy of their food.
The association said the vendors said the vendors could stay in their current locations until at least 2028, allowing time for construction on Albert Island and with agreements to be finalized. The new “New Smithfield” and “New BillingsGate” Buildings “will include a food school and continue training programs to support future generations of merchants.
Chris Hayward, Chair of policy in the City of London Corporation, called Move “Improve Development”, although he admits that the project remains in its infancy.
