Smithfield and Billingsgate markets are set to move to a new location in east London

"The future of London's Billingsgate Fish Market and Smithfield Meat Market - each the largest markets of their kind in the UK - has been in the lurch for a while. Billingsgate has been trading in Poplar since 1982, while Smithfield started selling meat in Farringdon way back in the 1860s. But in 2022, the City of London announced plans to move both markets out of their long-term central London locations, and it has been searching for a new home for their traders ever since."

"It was originally planned that the markets would move to a new location in Dagenham, but members of City of London Corporation voted to axe that plan due to spiralling costs. Now, a new preferred location has been identified. The City of London Corporation and the Greater London Authority (GLA) have found a site on the Royal Docks where both markets can operate next to each other."

"The City of London Corporation says that most traders from both markets have agreed to move to a new site. Those that haven't agreed intend to transfer their business to others, meaning that 100 percent of trade will continue wherever Smithfield and Billingsgate end up next. They'll be known as New Billingsgate and New Smithfield respectively once they relocate."

Billingsgate Fish Market has traded in Poplar since 1982 and Smithfield Meat Market has operated in Farringdon since the 1860s. Plans to move both markets were announced in 2022 and an earlier Dagenham relocation was cancelled because of rising costs. The City of London Corporation and the Greater London Authority have identified Albert Island at the eastern end of the Royal Docks as a preferred joint site for the markets after 2028. The relocation remains subject to a Parliamentary Bill and planning permission from Newham Council, and most traders have agreed to move, maintaining continuity of trade under the names New Billingsgate and New Smithfield.

Read at Time Out London