As if it’s just Road closures and the congestion charge that are responsible for the demise of Smithfield. Good piece but you could have challenged this nonsense.
I think, and I wrote this carefully, it’s a fairly convincing element of why the *culture* of the market has shifted if it helped prompt the hours of operation to change.
Thanks for the reply, did it really contribute to that though? What were the hours before? Congestion charge has been around for years and it hasn’t made other London businesses go nocturnal
He says in the article that he used to arrive at 4am (and presumably leave ~8 hours later) and he now arrives at 10pm.
So the congestion charge moved the market to a fully nocturnal affair.
I would then speculate this would have a negative effect on keeping good butchers involved in the industry and attracting the next generation to go into the meat business.
You can argue this is pennywise/pound foolish but market participants must align trading hours in order to trade with one another. And by virtue of the small margins involved you will have lots of traders trying to avoid the charge to boost margins.
Great stuff yet again, Jim. I enjoyed reading his slightly more optimistic view of the move than I’ve read about elsewhere.
Also delighted to see another fan of that documentary(!). Such a great series - the Billingsgate episode was fascinating too.
As if it’s just Road closures and the congestion charge that are responsible for the demise of Smithfield. Good piece but you could have challenged this nonsense.
I think, and I wrote this carefully, it’s a fairly convincing element of why the *culture* of the market has shifted if it helped prompt the hours of operation to change.
Thanks for the reply, did it really contribute to that though? What were the hours before? Congestion charge has been around for years and it hasn’t made other London businesses go nocturnal
He says in the article that he used to arrive at 4am (and presumably leave ~8 hours later) and he now arrives at 10pm.
So the congestion charge moved the market to a fully nocturnal affair.
I would then speculate this would have a negative effect on keeping good butchers involved in the industry and attracting the next generation to go into the meat business.
You can argue this is pennywise/pound foolish but market participants must align trading hours in order to trade with one another. And by virtue of the small margins involved you will have lots of traders trying to avoid the charge to boost margins.
Seems reasonable to me.
To be honest I always assumed wholesale had some kind of exceptions here
Brilliant report on Smithfield and the meat auction. I am so glad they are setting up elsewhere.
You write brilliantly Jim, there's still hope for you youngsters!