Cost of living bites at 300-year-old market with the ‘decline in handcrafted wares’

A South London town centre known for its nearly 300-year-old market may be losing its “identity” of selling handcrafted wares, with cost of living pressures making it harder for traders to see past the “very grim” economy.

Greenwich town centre has long prided itself in being an attraction for Londoners and tourists alike. Taking less than ten minutes to get to and from London Bridge by train, the town boasts views of the city from the iconic Greenwich Park, as well as a historic market dating back to 1737.

However, local businesses in the space have said there’s no “personal touch” to the space anymore given the decline in the handmade gifts that made it famous.

An anonymous trader in the market said that they had been selling in the space for over five years. Despite the market’s reputation for hand-crafted items, the trader said newer stalls appeared to be selling more generic wares.

“A lot of people are saying the traders here now sell things that you can buy off the internet from Taiwan, or are made in China,” they said.

“There’s no personal touch anymore. It used to be a crafts market for made things. A lot of people say there’s been an influx of people who have just been buying stuff off the internet in bulk and just selling it here.”

Greenwich Market is owned by Greenwich Hospital Charity and managed by estate agency Knight Frank. The trader said that despite rents for the market being reasonable, the new management has been “inflexible”.

They said that they would like to see changes made to make the market feel new again and more “trendy”.

“They have lost their way in the sense that they have no vision. They could put one woman here selling African garments opposite another woman selling African garments,” they said.

“There’s no placement or thinking about where people go, there is none at all. It’s almost like they close their eyes and think, ‘You go there, they’ll go there.’ So allocation needs to be sorted out.”

Phadindra Bhattarai, 45, owner of Monsoon café in Greenwich Market, said he gets a mix of both locals and tourists on a budget in his café. Having started the family-owned business in 2008, the café owner said he has “really struggled” to make ends meet with his stock doubling and tripling in price.

“We get a lot of regular customers who used to spend a lot but they’ve cut down on their spending.

“They used to have sandwiches, cake and coffee, but they just stick to coffee now… I don’t see this in the near future, in the matter of a few months or so, improving.

“The economy looks very grim at the moment. It’s going to take a year to get back hopefully, we can only be optimistic about it.”

Mr Bhattarai said that local businesses in the market received a lot of support from government grants and Greenwich Council during Covid.

However, the café owner said this help has been less prominent in recent times and would like to say schemes to encourage people to shop at the market more.

“We hear a lot of things on radio and television, but no support has come to us,” he said.

“We’ve not been supported by any of them.”

He added: “After changing the market, it lost its identity. It used to be more historic.

“People come here not to see high buildings or anything. They come here to explore the history. It used to have a lot of things to offer.

“I think local authorities and council people need to advertise more about its history, about the identity of Greenwich, so that It can attract more people.”

Ian Garrett, 45, has lived in Greenwich for the past 15 years. The local has only recently started selling his artwork at the market, but has heard from those around him that trade has slowed down in the past few months.

“It has gotten harder,” he said, “people have less money to spend on luxury items and stuff like that. More people are living hand to mouth. I’ve noticed that – especially after Covid.”

Sue Jenkins, 60, has been selling her hand knitted children’s clothes at the market for 12 years. The trader said that she has also noticed the decline in handcrafted items at stalls.

“Definitely over the last year or so. It seems that there are a lot more [imported items]. We’ve always been a handmade and crafted market,” she said.

“I’m a designer so I make my own knitwear… it’s all made by me apart from the antiques.

“Whereas you look around the stores and you know that a lot of it’s been brought in from China or Hong Kong, or from companies that do wholesale online.”

While trade has slowed, Ms Jenkins said business can still be good on certain days. She said that tourists coming to the area can help give traders like her the boost they need.

“It’s always up and down,” she said. “It can be different on a different day. obviously after Brexit and the pandemic it’s fallen away.

“It’s been a very difficult few years for us. But even then you might have an excellent day out of the blue and it really depends on who comes to the market.”

A Greenwich Council spokesperson said: “The council works closely with Greenwich Hospital, the operators of Greenwich Market, to promote the market and its wide range of craftspeople and traders.

“We’re providing additional space within Cutty Sark Gardens during peak shopping hours, offering stall holders access to an area with high footfall.

“The Council works with all the organisations in the World Heritage Site partnership, helping to encourage more visitors to enjoy the town’s unique character and historic attractions.”

The spokesperson highlighted that Greenwich Market had received 5.3m visitors in the past year, and traders had access to a range of business support programmes from the council.

They also said that £166,000 of funding from the GLA’s High Streets for All Fund had been used to increase footfall for local businesses.

“However, we recognise that this is a difficult economic climate; the cost of living crisis means people have less money to spend, but costs are also increasing for traders and businesses,” the spokesperson added.

“It’s critical that the Government offers more help to businesses, building on the grants provided during the pandemic.”

Greenwich Hospital Trust and Knight Frank were approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of publication.