International Market opens as council revenues unclear

Morning Briefing: Wednesday, 15th April

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Nottingham International Market returns to Old Market Square for five days of food, arts and crafts, and gift ideas, as Nottingham City Council furthers what it calls its "commercial income events model" at an "exceptional commercial location".

It is difficult to understand, from open documentation, what the specific business relationship between Market Place Europe, the organisers of the International Market, and the City is. However, there is some interesting information available on the City's processes generally.

For instance, the Council has strong legal controls over where markets can be run, and who by. By Royal Charter and Food Act (1984), all markets intended to be run within 6⅔ miles of a Council-run market must get permission. In the past, such markets included the Colwick car boot, which has ceased, and the Victoria Centre market, which is in the process of shutting down as the leaseholder takes back over the lease. That leaves very few left - but Old Market Square remains a central anchor.

When deciding which markets to allow, the Council has said, "themed commercial market applications for city centre spaces are welcomed but are restricted to a limited number of occasions annually." Though, they do not go into their selection criteria. The Council have mentioned they try to "complement rather than duplicate the city's food and drink on offer".

The waiver comes with costs - £90 per day and, for larger markets, £4.50 per stall.

Likely, the bigger money is in the rent of the Square. Unfortunately, the Council has not released these figures publicly. They do release standard costs, like the £245 + VAT minimum that events in Old Market Square must pay to be connected to mains electricity, but this key figure - the rent cost - is not disclosed in any public-facing documents that the Morning Briefing has found.

In council meeting minutes, where similar market event financials were discussed, the public were excluded and the minutes restricted. This is common practice when discussing business contracts, but unfortunately makes it difficult to understand how the Square is being utilised.

Vendors at this week's market pay their rent to Market Place Europe. The City has no direct relationship with vendors. This became important when in 2024 for this same market, there was no working electricity for the opening Wednesday. City Council had to reduce the rental cost to the company, for them to pass on to traders to recover their lost earnings.

However, while some fees are published, the total cost of hiring Old Market Square is not disclosed in public documents.

The market is running from 10 am until 6pm, from today until Sunday.