Ridley Road Shopping Village traders win reprieve after protesters block private security

Photograph: Gabriel MacArthur

Traders at Ridley Road Shopping Village have won a reprieve after an hour-long standoff on Tuesday 31 March saw protesters block private security from shutting the building.

The demonstrators demanded that promises about compensation and lease extensions were made in writing to the traders.

This was in opposition to verbal agreements made by security, privately hired by the indoor market’s landlord, Larochette Real Estate.

The police were called to the scene but classified the affair a civil matter. Security subsequently left while the crowd celebrated.

Protestors disputing with police inside the market. Photograph: Gabriel MacArthur

Traders said they were warned in a letter from Larochette’s solicitor that they would risk their stores being permanently closed should they interfere with security.

Instead, a coalition of the London Renters Union and Save Ridley Road campaigners stepped in.

A row of protesters stood below the market shutters, blocking the forced closure of the stand. Photograph: Gabriel MacArthur

It follows eight years of uncertainty over the future of the Shopping Village, including an eviction attempt in 2018 and repeated planning applications for redevelopment.

In mid-February, Larochette, which is based in the Virgin Islands, informed traders of the impending closure.

Around half of the building’s 13 traders had been given verbal promises of a right to return, but no firm dates or legally binding commitments.

Other traders were told that they would not be accepted back into the building due to cautions or charges relating to a police raid in August 2023.

Community group Save Ridley Road has been pushing for Hackney Council to renew a 2022 commitment to take over the lease of the Shopping Village in order to secure the building’s future.

Photograph: Gabriel MacArthur

Member Danny Hayward said: “Most traders in the Shopping Village are West African and Caribbean – they feel like they’re being disrespected and profiled. They also feel betrayed by Hackney Council.

“The fact that groups from across Hackney came together spontaneously today to prevent the closure just shows how high feeling is running. Collective evictions were never the solution – this issue is just going to escalate unless the landlord reverses course”.

The north end of Ridley Road Shopping Village, which encapsulates these stalls, has been labelled as a “development opportunity site” in a Hackney Council report.

Tetteh, who has lived in Dalston for over a decade, often uses the stalls to buy groceries.

Frequent Ridley Road visitor Tetteh. Photograph: Gabriel MacArthur

He told the Citizen: “What’s happening is private companies consistently exploiting people who built their lives here – people who are the descendants of people who have been exploited by the state themselves, so it’s completely violating all they have contributed to the overall society, community and the importance they have in the overall foundation of London itself”.

James, a man in his mid-60s who visits the market to socialise, said: “What they’ve been doing here doesn’t surprise me. They brought so many people into this borough and make sure that people born and bred in this borough are useless.

“We can’t establish ourselves, we can’t establish our children. Where is Hackney’s support?”

Photograph: Gabriel MacArthur

Hackney mayor Caroline Woodley has previously said the council was supporting affected traders with discounted street market pitches and alternative premises.

In a statement in mid-March, Larochette insisted nobody was being evicted but that leases were not being renewed to “draw a clear line under historic challenges”.

“Businesses who have not been involved in antisocial behaviour and who are not in significant rent arrears will be offered temporary accommodation within the building or outdoor pitches depending on their needs until the market reopens”, the company said.