New Covent Garden Market in

Nine Elms Nine Elms is an area of south-west London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies on the River Thames, with Battersea to the west, South Lambeth to the south and Vauxhall to the east. The area was formerly mainly industrial ...

, London, is the largest wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market in the United Kingdom. It covers a site of and is home to about 200 fruit, vegetable and flower companies. The market serves 40% of the fruit and vegetables eaten outside of the home in London, and provides ingredients to many of London's restaurants, hotels, schools, prisons, hospitals and

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major servi ...

businesses. New Covent Garden Market - flower market

The Flower Market, which offers flowers, plants, foliages, sundries and interior decorations from the UK and from around the globe, is visited by 75% of florists in London, many of whom place morning orders and return to restock during the day. The Flower Market wholesalers are open from 04:00 to 10:00 Monday to Saturday and the Fruit & Vegetable Market wholesalers trade from around 00:00 – 06:00 Monday to Saturday. There is a £5 entry fee for visitors driving to the market. The nearest

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

stations are

Battersea Power Station Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned Grade II* listed coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) ...

and

, both opened in 2021 as part of the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, t ...

extension to Battersea.

History

New Covent Garden Flower Market - geograph

For many years the capital's main wholesale market for fruit and vegetables was at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

, just as the

meat market A meat market is, traditionally, a marketplace where meat is sold, often by a butcher. It is a specialized wet market. The term is sometimes used to refer to a meat retail store or butcher's shop, in particular in North America. During the mid ...

was at Smithfield, fish at

Billingsgate Billingsgate is one of the 25 Wards of the City of London. This small City Ward is situated on the north bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge in the south-east of the Square Mile. The modern Ward extends south to the ...

and other food at

Leadenhall Market Leadenhall Market is a covered market in London, located on Gracechurch Street but with vehicular access also available via Whittington Avenue to the north and Lime Street to the south and east, and additional pedestrian access via a number o ...

. As the supply of fresh food was considered strategically important, the Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA) was set up in 1961, charged with modernising and overseeing the administration of the produce market. Construction began in 1971 south of the Thames in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batt ...

, on the site of the former

Nine Elms Locomotive Works Nine Elms Locomotive Works were built in 1839 by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) adjoining their passenger terminus near the Vauxhall end of Nine Elms Lane, in the district of Nine Elms in the London Borough of Battersea. They were re ...

and

Nine Elms railway station Nine Elms railway station in the London district of Battersea was opened on 21 May 1838 as the London terminus of the London and Southampton Railway which on the same day became the London and South Western Railway. The building in the neoclas ...

. The new market opened for business on 11 November 1974, although its ceremonial opening, by the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not prod ...

, was on 26 June 1975. The CGMA is a

statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

, which reports to the

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...

(DEFRA). As a statutory corporation, the

UK treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...

has shielded New Covent Garden from changes in conditions of the wholesale industry. In the 1980s, when the wholesale industry was threatened by the growth of supermarkets, New Covent Garden Market were able to switch focus to the hospitality industry. Since 1990, successive governments have attempted to privatise or dispose of the market as a going concern.

Redevelopment

By 2005, the buildings were beginning to show signs of their age, in need of modernising. Following a report by

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

, the CGMA and DEFRA agreed on a plan (known as Project Chrysalis) to reform and redevelop the market to enable it to be eventually sold. The CGMA, which had previously paid any profits as dividends to

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Government ...

, was allowed to retain its profits to fund the initial planning work. The CGMA signed a contract with Vinci and St. Modwen in 2013 for the market's regeneration for a five-year development project Funded by releasing spare land to the developers to build residential properties, the £2 billion project is expected to provide 2000 additional jobs, include 3000 new homes, 135,000 square feet of commercial units and 100,000 square feet of retail facilities. The project is a part of the wider Nine Elms Regeneration area, which also encompasses the relocation of the

Embassy of the United States, London The Embassy of the United States of America in London is the diplomatic mission of the United States in the United Kingdom. It is located in Nine Elms and is the largest American embassy in Western Europe and the focal point for events relating ...

to Nine Elms, the regeneration of

, and an extension of the Underground's

(funded in part by the CGMA).

Delays

By the time redevelopment works started in 2015 (months behind schedule), the project's timeline had increased in scope and was expected to take 10 years. The Flower Market, situated near the Battersea Park Road entrance, opened in April 2017, with the Food Exchange opening in January 2018. Phase One of the regeneration completed in December 2019. However, traders were unimpressed about the quality of the new units, relating to logistics, spacing and electric capacity. In 2018, their Tenant association sued the CGMA over breach of contract. The lawsuit was settled in December 2020 with the CGMA agreeing to implement changes proposed in a consultation made earlier that year. The second phase of works started in January 2021, and is expected to complete in 2026.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 51.47807, N, 0.13527, W, source:placeopedia_region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Wandsworth Wholesale markets in London Food markets in the United Kingdom Flower markets Statutory corporations of the United Kingdom government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Buildings and structures completed in 1974 Nine Elms