New Hackney Half route is bad for business, traders warn council

Stephane and Olivia Cusset. Photograph: LDRS

Hackney businesses have warned they are losing one of their best trading days of the year following changes to the route of the Hackney Half.

The popular half marathon has taken place in the borough since 2014, and on Sunday (17 May) over 25,000 participants are set to dash through Dalston, Homerton and London Fields.

Until 2025, runners would cross over the Regent’s Canal and up through Broadway Market, a Victorian street bazaar home to scores of independent shops, cafes, restaurants and bars.

But Hackney Council’s decision to move the route away from Broadway Market to facilitate the Sunday street market has frustrated permanent business owners who say they will lose out on one of their busiest trading days, two years in a row.

Alex Bloom has run her vegetarian restaurant Aya & Suki here for eight years.

Though bricks-and-mortar businesses have competed with Saturday street stalls for a long time, she said the council’s decision to open a regular Sunday market five years ago has reduced visibility for permanent businesses, obscuring them behind trader tents and driving down footfall.

Aya & Suki owner Alex Bloom says Broadway businesses like hers have lost thousands from a drop-off in footfall. Photograph: LDRS

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that for businesses like hers the annual Hackney Half had given a reprieve by clearing the street for one Sunday a year and drawing in more customers as spectators flocked to “the amazingly vibrant and well-attended focal point of the race”.

“On a Hackney Half day, we’d take about £3,000, but with the food market running last year it was more like £500,” Ms Bloom said.

“This is the one day we make money,” she added, citing the strains of rent, utilities and business rates. “It’s really hard as a hospitality business with only one premises. You’re constantly on the edge.”

Ms Bloom and other owners that the LDRS spoke to accepted that it was too late now to change the route this year, and acknowledged the council’s need to “balance competing demands”.

However, 23 businesses from the street have written to the local authority asking it to review how the event is managed in the future to ensure the “widest possible benefit to the local economy” and to “seriously consider” returning to the original route.

One of the signatories is William Cheshire, who runs a bespoke jewellery business and on-site workshop on Broadway Market. Though a lot of his customers come by appointment, he said he would miss the impact of runners passing through “this real vein of London”.

William Cheshire. Photograph: LDRS

“This is a real crunch point. The atmosphere is fantastic because you get supporters cheering and echoing around the buildings. It’s a big part of the community,” he said.

Other signatories to the letter include The Dove pub, tapas restaurant El Ganso, fishmonger Fin & Flounder and wine sellers Shrine to the Vine.

Stephane Cusset has been trading on Broadway Market for over two decades. He runs a delicatessen and café L’eau à La Bouche at the market’s mid-point, but has also operated a market stall on Saturdays.

He told the LDRS: “We just made so much more on the Hackney Half when there was no Sunday market. It was a really good day for businesses because it was so busy on the street.”

His daughter Olive Cusset, who is La Bouche’s head chef, added that the original route down the market street was “really nice for the community”.

Ms Bloom said that so far their letter has been met with silence.

The Hackney Half takes place on Sunday 17 May. Photograph: LDRS

Responding to the LDRS, a Hackney Council spokesperson said: “Hackney Moves and the Hackney Half attract tens of thousands of participants and spectators to the borough, generating significant economic benefits, with many local businesses, charities and community organisations directly involved in the events.

“We acknowledge that the change of route that was made in 2025 may be disappointing for some businesses on Broadway Market, but the slightly amended route for the half marathon aims to strike a balance that also enables the Sunday market to continue trading.

“We encourage racegoers and supporters to explore and support Hackney’s independent shops, markets, cafés and creative spaces as these places reflect the culture and diversity of the borough,” the spokesperson said.

The Hackney Half is scheduled for Sunday 17 May as part of Hackney Moves festival. The route travels through sections of Homerton, Dalston and London Fields, before heading towards Victoria Park and Hackney Wick. The finish line is in Hackney Marshes.

The race will lead to closures or partial closures of several roads across Hackney in the morning. These will shut at 6.30am and begin to reopen in stages from 12.45pm to 4pm.

Hackney Council will be suspending the enforcement of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) for 24 hours on Sunday to help minimise disruption.