Tonight in the presence of the Princess Royal we celebrated the wonderful history of Smithfield Market.
It is now 150 years since Smithfield's re-birth in the fabulous buildings designed by the City’s architect; Sir Horace Jones. We are so very lucky to enjoy those buildings everyday as a living market, a marvellous architectural feature for the area. The new centre of London thanks to cross rail and the Farringdon station re development. Happily we know that these buildings will soon be enjoyed by thousands more commuters and visitors to our city when the full station opens.
Of course, our meat market dates from much earlier than Sir Horace’s re development, the 10th century in fact, and today it is London's only remaining medieval wholesale market in continuous operation and still in the square mile. So we gathered tonight to celebrate a rich history, great food, and all the traders that make our market. The anniversary of the buildings gave us the excuse, but the traders are our market, and the City Corporation thanked them all for their hard work that ensured its success.
We the City Corporation members were honoured to host them, and to promise our commitment to the vibrancy of our market for another 150 years. As markets chairman, and with the great help of the members, officers and market staff, our duty will be to launch the market on the next phase of its life. This is why the markets committee has embarked on a review of what we need to do to secure a positive future to ensure Smithfield remains the UK’s leading meat market for the next generation.
Smithfield has a glorious history and a great future.