Since 2009 I have been honoured to serve on the markets committee of the City of London, in 2015 I became the Committee Deputy Chairman, and took the Chairmanship in May 2017. I moved to the role of Deputy Chairman in September 2020, and returned to ordinary member status in May 2021. The committee is now a board, but I remain part of it.
Smithfield market is the largest wholesale meat market in the UK, and is one of the three markets the Corporation oversees. Located within the Square Mile of the City of London. It is a place packed with history – there has been a livestock market on the site for over 800 years – but today it has very modern state of the art facilities for the receiving, storing and despatching of meat and poultry.
I think it a wonderful and vibrant part of our City of London, with a great future. Close to the new Farringdon Cross Station the future for regeneration of the area looks great. Sadly it's future is now in doubt.
There was a plan to have a consolidated market, combining Smithfield, Billingsgate and Spitalfield markets, that I brought forward as an idea whilst Chairman. When I ceased to be chairman I thought the market would move to Dagenham releasing the entire site for new opportunities.
As of November 2024 the future is unclear as Parliament must decide what to do, but the Corporation of London proposes to close the markets in 2028 and not to move them to Dagenham.