‘It’s a landmark for Croydon’: Surrey Street market funding welcomed but traders skeptical

Traders working at one of the UK’s oldest street markets have welcomed funding from the Mayor of London but fear it will “go to waste” if their needs are not listened to.

Last week Surrey Street traders met with Croydon council to discuss how £814,000 of funding from Sadiq Khan’s Civic Partnership Programme (CPP) will be spent.

Jose Joseph, who has run a fruit and veg stall in Surrey Street Market for 15 years, said: “We welcome the funding for the market but it must benefit traders – we cannot afford for this money to be wasted.”

Croydon council successfully bid for the funding, first announced in August, which will be invested in the Amplifying Surrey Street project.

A spokeswoman for Croydon council said: “The project is part of Executive Mayor Jason Perry’s priority to attract inward investment into Croydon town centre, regenerate this valuable and historic quarter and make the borough a cleaner, safer and healthier place.

“We are committed to working closely with all market traders and businesses in the Surrey Street area to make sure this programme meets the needs of the business community.”

But traders of the market which dates back to 1276, are skeptical and have urged the council and the Mayor to listen to their needs.

Mr Joseph said: “We had funding from the council before but we only got gazebos. Nothing else was beneficial for the traders.

“In our meetings we can tell that they already have an idea of how it will be spent – but the same thing cannot happen again.”

Mr Joseph is the chair of the Croydon Town Centre Small Business Association, which has requested permanent stalls instead of pop-up gazebos, decoration for the front of the market and signage directing people to Surrey Street from East Croydon station.

He said: “There are hundreds of thousands of people moving into all the new housing in Croydon.

“Surrey Street market has been here for hundreds of years but there are no signs – we want people to see that this is a landmark for Croydon.”

Syed Afzaly, 29, has run a stall in the market for two years.

He said: “The funding is great news for traders.

“We have discussed these issues a lot and decided together what we need most – we are colleagues but we are also like family and we all face the same problems.

“We are here permanently so permanent stalls and a covering to protect us from rain would make us more busy, like it used to be.”

Market traders and shopkeepers also raised issues about crime rates which have blighted the area in recent months.

In April, Rijkaard Salu Siafa was stabbed to death in Fellmongers Yard – an alleyway off Surrey Street. Three months later, in July, a shopkeeper was stabbed by two teenagers robbing his beauty shop.

Mary Joseph, 45, who has worked on a fruit and vegetable stall in the market for 10 years said:  “In the last few months there has been a lot of knife crime and it makes us scared to work here. We want it to be safer.

“The market can get very quiet and then it can become dangerous and more people want to steal.

“If it was safer and there were proper signs more people would come and these things would be better.”

Mr Joseph said his calls for increased support and policing have been overlooked whilst he is struggling to organise a meeting with the Mayor to discuss crime rates.

He said: “Necessary action is not being taken. We have families and children coming in and we want it to be peaceful, but every day there is someone making problems.”

A spokeswoman for Croydon council said: “We have listened to the views of market traders through an engagement event, as part of the initial stage of the project, and there will be further opportunities to work together.”

A survey on Amplifying Surrey Street is open until December 11, for all residents to have their say.

Pictured top: Jose Joseph, chair of the Croydon Town Centre Small Business Association (Picture: Jose Joseph)