A West London community group has submitted a bid to list Shepherd’s Bush Market as an asset of community value. Friends of Shepherd’s Bush Market, which says it represents traders and local residents, filed the application to ‘protect’ the site’s future a year after redevelopment plans were approved.
The group argues that owner Yoo Capital is looking to sell the market once the redevelopment is complete and that the asset of community value (ACV) status would be a first step towards community ownership of the site. Jake Simms, a spokesperson for Friends of Shepherd’s Bush Market, said after years of ‘uncertainty’, “it is clear that only the community can be trusted to safeguard the future of our market”.
Andrew Thorpe, Managing Director at Yoo Capital, said the site is not for sale, adding the approved scheme offers the market and traders “the best chance of future success and we look forward to starting works early next year”. Yoo Capital’s plans for the market, which runs between Goldhawk Road and Uxbridge Road, include the introduction of new stalls, 40 council homes on the adjoining Old Laundry Yard, a nine-storey commercial building, and aesthetic works, such as new entrance signs.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s Planning and Development Control Committee approved the proposal in December 2023. Critics raised concerns over the support being promised to existing traders, the leases they would be offered and increasing gentrification.
Last summer City Hall announced it would not be calling in the application, and it was granted final approval, alongside conditions, in August. Friends of Shepherd’s Bush Market claim that since then no progress has been made by Yoo Capital on meeting the conditions nor have any new lease agreements with legacy traders been signed.
They further claim that Yoo Capital has told traders the process has been ‘paused’ and the redevelopment stalled. A spokesperson for Yoo Capital said it has continued to progress designs and preparation to start on-site but is yet to submit information needed to sign off the planning conditions.
They added it is not unusual for there to be a gap between permission being granted and these details to be submitted. The spokesperson also said traders were not contacted by Yoo Capital but by REimagine, the market managers, in relation to there being a ‘pause’.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has seen evidence indicating this was referring to Agreements for Lease (AfL) rather than the overall scheme.
‘The market is more than just a place to trade’
If approved by Hammersmith and Fulham Council, the designation of the market as an ACV would mean if it goes up for sale the community will be offered the chance to buy it first. It would retain ACV status for five years.
The Friends’ application provides a lengthy description of the benefits the market has delivered since it opened in 1914. These range from its variety of traditional foods used in African, Caribbean, Asian and other minority ethnic dishes, as well as goods such as “haberdashery and clothing like hijabs”.
It also references research including a report produced by the Greater London Authority on the social value in planning and regeneration, in which the market is mentioned repeatedly.
Mr Simms said: “Shepherd’s Bush Market is the heart of our community and its social value cannot be sacrificed. The market is more than just a place to trade, it’s a lifeline for a diverse range of communities, a space of belonging, and a crucial source of affordable goods in a cost of living crisis. Yoo Capital’s plans would destroy the market’s social value – displacing traders, pricing out locals, and eroding the market’s diversity – all for the sake of lining their investors pockets.
“The market needs investment, but this must be led by the community, not billionaire developers. After 15 years of developer broken promises and uncertainty, it is clear that only the community can be trusted to safeguard the future of our market. We call on Hammersmith and Fulham Council to recognise the market’s irreplaceable social value and work alongside the community to protect its future.”
A spokesperson for the Shepherd’s Bush Market Tenants’ Association, which is 60 this year and claims to represent the majority of traders, said its members are “fully supportive of the development by Yoo Capital and see it as the best way for our much loved but rapidly declining market to be able to move forward to support the traders and their families and the local community we have served for four generations”.
They described the bid by the Friends of Shepherd’s Bush Market as “another PR stunt and attempt to delay and frustrate the process of moving forward.
“It would cost millions to buy the market, and Yoo Capital is spending millions more refurbishing the market and compensating traders. Even if the market was for sale, where would the Friends get that money?”
Mr Thorpe said: “Shepherd’s Bush Market is not for sale. Over the last five years, we have worked with the traders and the community to build trust and to bring forward plans for the market that improve it, while supporting existing traders with generous financial packages. Our plans offer the market and its traders the best chance of future success and we look forward to starting works early next year.”
Yoo Capital is behind another major project in the borough, the Olympia redevelopment.
A £1.3 billion scheme, it will see the site reimagined as a cultural and hospitality hub, with spaces including a 4,000-capacity music arena and 1,575 seat theatre. It is expected to begin opening later this year.
Don’t miss out on the biggest West London news. Sign up to our MyWestLondon newsletter HERE for all the latest daily news and more.
