Greengrocer leaves market over plans to reduce opening hours

A greengrocer is leaving Brighton’s Open Market to concentrate on online orders, saying erratic opening hours are killing their business.

The Fruit Bowl has been trading in the market since 2020, taking over from Charlie Mears Fruit and Veg, who had been there for decades.

When the market reopened after it was redeveloped in 2014, management insisted traders open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm and 10am to 5pm on Saturdays, a total of 47 hours a week – a requirement still included in unit licences.

Traders were fined if they did not stick to these – but for the last couple of years, the hours have not been enforced and the market often appears half closed.

This is a particular issue for grocery-led businesses which rely on reliable footfall as their business is based on high volumes of sales at low profit margins.

In May, market management said it would be requiring traders to open at least five days a week for seven hours a day, which would be reviewed in October.

In November, it said it would be launching a survey on hours, which has now been issued with proposals to reduce the core hours to 35 hours a week and asking for views on when these should be.

But the husband and wife team which run the business, Gavin Cattle and Sarah Jones, say this is too little too late, and they cannot afford to run their business in a half-empty market any more.

And they also say that since raising the issue of core hours in the media last autumn, market management has been making life difficult for them – including trying to make them sign an agreement not to talk to the press.

Gavin said: “People have built up their businesses based on the old hours. They’re now saying you can still open, but what happens if nobody else is?

“For us to compete against supermarkets, we have to buy in bulk. If we have got nobody there to sell it to, we can’t make enough.

“Our suppliers are only open in the early hours. We come in at 6am but would then have to stay open until customers are here at 10am. My working week would go from 70 hours to 100.

“The people who have kept the market open are now having to change their business because of people who don’t want to run their business full time.

“Starting a business is hard work – we had no life for three to four years trying to build this. People are getting fed up looking a green shutters every day.

Customers are saying these people must be making too much money if they’re closed all the time.

“Ever since we have complained about this, our lives have been made hell. In December, we had a meeting which we thought was going to be us signing our new licence after three years but we were asked to add a clause to not speak to the press.

“I picked the pen up and said you can tell the board to stick their licence up their a***.”

Other traders have previously told Brighton and Hove News they cannot speak to the press about market issues under the terms of their licence.

The board of the Open Market includes Councillor Ty Goddard representing Brighton and Hove City Council, Luiza Costescu representing Ethical Property which manages the market, trader Barry Hill and Rosalind Gillies-Reyburn. Market regeneration consultant Hayden Ferriby and affordable homes consultant Adrienne Bloch were appointed last month.

In a statement, the board said: “Market management has engaged with the Fruit Bowl on several issues at their request, including changing the names on their trading licence.

“We are not able to talk about other issues, including trader behaviour, that have been dealt with properly and respectfully. Ultimately, it was Fruit Bowl’s decision to leave the market.

“We are sad to see any trader go; but many leave for bigger premises, to change their business model or other reasons. The market has grown many businesses over the years and continues to be a good home for start-ups and scale-ups as well as established businesses.

“To suggest that there is ‘a ban’ on talking to the press is quite frankly wrong.”

It said it was collating the responses to the survey but no decision had been made – and that any core hours proposed would be a minimum, not a limit.

It added: “Brighton is a busy bustling city on a Sunday, and the market should be as well; wouldn’t any market want to look at longer opening hours, if available?

“We advertise any empty units and already have interest from retail, grocery, food and beverage operators; this has included speaking to various parties about opening a new fruit and veg business in the market.

“There is a growing awareness that the market is changing, working better with traders and the many pop-up independent traders too.”

Fruit Bowl customers can still order online by visiting its website here, or by WhatsApping 07564 236655.