‘The last of the East End is in this place’: the final days of Billingsgate Fish Market

Aspen Way cuts a hard line through would-be residential Poplar. The motorway weaves through a mix of social housing and upmarket new flats, alongside the ode to private equity that is Canary Wharf. Near the Blackwall Tunnel, the tangle of overpasses unwinds. A few metres away from the dark Thames water is a weather-beaten warehouse, with a sickly yellow roof and green letters that spell ‘Billingsgate Market’.

Once you’re inside, the morning comes alive with noise and colour. Traders and customers call out to one another by name under the glow of fluorescent lights. 

‘Morning Darren, usual order please.’

‘Of course, no one gets a better price than you…’

Darren Walkerdine grins as he punches numbers into a card machine for one of his regulars. He’s a tall guy in his early 50s, wearing an apron and an open smile. After dealing with the customer, he returns to his post, behind ice boxes where pristine pink salmon fillets lie in state. ‘You used to have to know someone to get in,’ Darren recalls. 

He was a butcher before, but for the last 30 years, he’s sold fish for James Nash & Son, wholesalers of clams and white fish. Darren stuck with it because of the hours. The midnight shift meant: ‘I got to see my kids grow up.’

The traders at Billingsgate are mostly men, though they span all ages and nationalities, in white overalls and rubber boots. They call out to each other in English and Bengali, wheeling crates of seafood with sleeves rolled up and forearms exposed to the soggy air. They stand alert, smiling invitingly, as customers survey their displays of goods.

It can be unforgiving work, but it’s more than a job. From Tuesday to Saturday, this unassuming east London warehouse hosts the UK’s largest inland fish market. Billingsgate opened its original outpost on Lower Thames Street in 1876 and moved to the current 13-acre site in Poplar in 1982. For most of that time, the sellers have been family firms, passing the trade from one generation to the next. But now, along with its sister, Smithfield meat market in Farringdon, the site is set to close by 2028, with its traders relocated. These are the last days of Billingsgate as we know it.

The docklands discount  

Billingsgate is not London’s best known market, but it might be the best value for money. One kilogram of fresh salmon goes for 14 quid, 17 if it’s a premium fillet. Compare that to £25 per kilogram for Tesco Finest Scottish salmon (and regulars expect a discount on top of it).

Trade customers start arriving at 4am: some come straight here after closing up their restaurants to shop for the next night’s service. Sellers estimate a 50-50 split between these buyers – restaurants, hotels and cafés, from classic chains like Poppies Fish ‘n Chips to Shoreditch’s Sushishow – and the public. You can just walk in to buy something for breakfast, and plenty of people do. By 6.30am, ordinary shoppers are streaming in and out of the gates, carrying bags of scallops, debating how to cook them. 

Billingsgate has not had the glossy makeover of Borough Market, which is now a foodie hotspot with brilliant but pricey produce, surrounded by chic restaurants and wine bars. It has not been branded a tourist destination, there are no restaurants attached to it; there is no warm embrace of overpriced espresso. Frost melts on the parking lot tarmac, the warehouse floor is still damp from being hosed down, fish eyes follow you and the salty scent is potent. 

Beyond that, it would be misleading to paint Billingsgate as a beacon of local fishing and caught-yesterday, cooked-today tradition. The salmon is sourced from Scotland when possible, but is just as likely to be Scandinavian. And that’s relatively local, compared to plenty of the more far-flung options on sale: tilapia, Bombay duck, dutch eels and even sea urchins.

None of that has stopped Billingsgate from being profitable, though. Above all, the market is practical. People come here because they know they’re getting a good product for an honest price. That shouldn’t be underestimated in a city where running a business of any size seems to become more expensive by the day. 

People know they’re getting a good product for an honest price

A report published in February – commissioned by the City of London Corporation, which runs the market along with Smithfield – notes that most trade is now conducted via off-site orders, ‘meaning customers’ reliance on the physical locations has significantly diminished’. However, that doesn’t quite chime with what sellers say: some say they still rely on walk-ins, because selling to the public in smaller quantities means a much higher profit margin than if they just stuck to wholesale. 

According to sellers, trade is as strong as ever. Merchants sell around 25,000 tons of fish products every year. Why then, is the market expected to shut down in the next four years? It depends who you ask. 

The case for closure 

Billingsgate is twinned with Smithfields meat market, the last wholesale market in the City of London proper, and the reason you go down Cowcross Street to get to Farringdon Station. Both markets are operated by the City of London Corporation, the authority in charge of London’s Square Mile financial district. The Corporation is rooted in medieval guilds representing the City’s artisans and merchants. Of course these days, the primary trade is not in physical goods, but in stocks, bonds and other things you can’t see. 

Smithfield and Billingsgate are outliers. Most wholesale markets have long been nudged out of central London for logistical reasons. London’s small-scale markets, like Columbia Road Flower Market and Portobello Road’s antiques, are still thriving, but flower wholesalers moved from Covent Garden to Nine Elms in the ’70s and greengrocers relocated from Old Spitalfields Market to Leyton in the ’90s. London’s boundaries grow further each year.  

Smithfield and Billingsgate have hung on because the City Corporation is legally obliged to protect them, due to laws passed as far back as the 1800s, which hold the Corp responsible for ensuring wholesale fish and meat markets are able to continue operating in the London metropolitan area. Billingsgate has already moved once, from its original spot under the Bank of England’s nose to its current location in the docklands – that was in the ’80s, when Canary Wharf was just a glimmer in developers’ eyes. 

Some traders say that the current site is not quite up to scratch; when I speak to them, they openly describe Billingsgate as ‘run-down’. But they also suggest that hadn’t happened by accident – that the building had been ‘allowed’ to deteriorate, because authorities always planned to sell it further down the line. That’s speculation, but there’s not much evidence to suggest that upgrading the current site was ever on the cards. 

Down the drain

In 2022, the City Corp submitted a bill to parliament, requesting to relocate Smithfield and Billingsgate markets to a new site in Dagenham. Fruit and veg from Leyton’s New Spitalfields Market was slated to move there too. 

Sellers welcomed the idea of better facilities, but always had doubts about the scheme. ‘It’s not so much that Dagenham is too far – it’s the traffic,’ says Chris Eracli, who works at the Lobster Shop, a specialist wholesaler of the red-shelled delicacy.

He explained the current location is a sweet spot: close enough to the highway out of London, without being too far from the city centre. It’s open early enough for suppliers, sellers and customers to get in and out before rush hour traffic hits. 

Relocation would mean better facilities and more space. But it would also mean moving from Zone 2 to Zone 5. You can dress it up however you like, but as anyone who’s ever moved flats in London will tell you, it doesn’t mean friends from across town will visit.

Plus, there was an objection from Havering Council, which borders Dagenham, citing a 776-year-old law passed by King Henry III, which prohibits rival markets ‘within a day’s sheep drive’ of the long-running outdoor retail spot, Romford Market. Try arguing with that. 

Ultimately, the City Corp decided the whole thing would be too expensive. They ditched the Dagenham scheme last November, when they filed a new bill asking permission to close the sites permanently.  

‘This decision, made with full support from traders after extensive consultation, reflects the City’s commitment to respecting these markets’ legacy while balancing tradition with progress,’ the Corp said in a press release in February. ‘Traders are receiving financial support to enable them to move to new locations of their choosing’.

The Corp needs central government to pass their proposed new Markets Bill, which repeals the old laws compelling the Corp to keep Smithfield and Billingsgate going in their current spots, on the grounds that it is no longer practical to do so. The bill is currently in early stages of review in the House of Commons.

The ripple effect

One of Billingsgate’s biggest draws is the fact that all the sellers are in one place: your tuna is next to your mussels, your halibut moments away from your scallops, eels are already jellied and jarred around the corner from the cod. Splintering could be detrimental for trade customers who go between stalls to get the best price and buy in quantities too small to order ahead.

Two petitions have been set up in attempt to keep the Billingsgate site open, one on behalf of sellers from Hackney’s beloved Ridley Road Market, saying they’ll be forced to shutter without access to the fish sellers: ‘People living in food poverty and on low incomes are often reliant on the low cost of local markets, particularly clearing markets like Ridley Road and others across London,’ it writes. ‘The small, minority run businesses that are typical of these small fishmongers have limited language skills and on their own, may feel both disempowered and incapable of engaging with Parliament in such a formal manner.’

The closure of the current Poplar site supposedly won’t mark the end for Billingsgate traders. Trade body London Fish Merchants Association (LMFA) said that 90 percent of its merchants reckon they will continue trading when the market closes, planning to relocate to a new single site without the London Corporation as the landlord. Along with Smithfield, traders have been told they will receive compensation from the City of London to assist with the move to new sites. 

Though, for businesses local to Billingsgate, the uncertainty isn’t washing away. Less than five minutes from the market is Poplar High Street, which emerges as if by accident from the vortex of express roads and high rises. The barber shop and hardware store are still going strong and the faint scent of fried eggs cuts through the greyscale. A tomato-red sign points you to the source: ‘Poplar Cafe – the best café in town’. 

The place stays on the right side of pastiche: from the tiles and leather seats to the gloriously detailed menu. It offers every permutation of the English breakfast you could dream of, roast dinners, and of course, fish and chips. A framed certificate on the wall declares the owner, Ali Kurklu, ‘the best boss in town’. His friendly smile is matched by his staff, who are visible cooking your meal from behind the plastic screen that separates the front counter from the kitchen. 

Kurklu has bought fish from Billingsgate since opening his café 21 years ago. If Billingsgate disappears, he reckons he’ll order online from the sellers he knows – for about £100 extra each time, he estimates. In a world of rising prices, it’s not a surprise. It’s not going to put Kurklu out of business, but it’s a reminder that small-scale operations like his still count on local markets to keep costs down. 

New horizons

As the future of the markets gets hazier, Londoners are promised that whatever replaces them will benefit the public. The new Museum of London will move next door to grade II-listed Smithfield. Meanwhile at Billingsgate, diggers are at the door.  

In the market’s vast parking lot, seagulls’ cries mingle with the sound of hammers on neighbouring construction sites. According to the Corp, ‘up to 4,000 new homes’ are expected to be built on the Billingsgate site. In London, empty land is precious, and is usually bought by private developers. Projects move slowly, including lengthy negotiations about the council’s requirement for 35 percent of new flats to be ‘affordable’. 

In Tower Hamlets, ‘affordable’ means 80 percent of the average open market rent in the area. In a neighbourhood under the shadow of Canary Wharf (the market’s neighbours include Barclays, JPMorgan and State Street), that means around 80 percent of £2290 a month for a one-bedroom flat.

If the developer promises to build something extra with community purpose, like a public park, or a library, or gives the council money to do so, they may be able to reduce the number of affordable flats in their building. In the case of Billingsgate, the Corp says the residential development will include a bridge connecting Poplar to Canary Wharf, though it has not confirmed whether this extra infrastructure will have any impact on the number of affordable flats. And, as locals pointed out to the council last October in a meeting about developing the nearby Westferry Printworks site, there’s not always a sufficient follow-up process to ensure that public benefits materialise. Only time will tell.

Left in the slipstream 

According to the City Corp, it won’t be until 2028 that the workers – including the young guns, Billingsgate’s large crowd of twenty-something-year-old traders – have to figure out what to do next. 

AJ, a chatty man with a permanent grin and quick, excitable movements, has been selling silver pomfret at the West & Sun Foods stall for a little over two years. It’s all about the atmosphere, he says: ‘No stress, no pressure. The environment – I really like it. There’s a lot of history here. Here, you can talk with the customer.’ 

It’s all about the laughs, the banter – it’s a big family

The market manages to be chaotic and cosy at the same time – it feels familiar, even on a first visit. Traders make conversation, customers pick up regular orders, and sellers often seem to know what they want before they say anything.

‘The interaction, the camaraderie; there are very few places you can still get that,’ says Nozar Hussein, a regular who runs Clerkenwell eatery Fish Central.

‘It’s all about the laughs, the banter. It’s a big family,’ says Chris Eracli, live lobsters floating in the tank behind him. ‘The last of the East End is in this place,’ he adds.

Change is inevitable, perhaps nowhere more so than in capital cities. The trouble comes in deciding: is it evolution, or is it erosion? Maybe there’s just no room left for something as functional as a fish market in the middle of the city anymore – for all those crates of crustaceans, for damp warehouses. Maybe commerce just doesn’t have time for community, for customers who haggle. Maybe history is simply no match for high land value. 

Billingsgate is a small cog in the machinery that keeps the city going. Sure, it can live without it. But when Billingsgate goes, it takes a bit of the fabric of London with it.

Last month, the City of London Corporation published a study which concluded that the current sites of Billingsgate and Smithfield ‘no longer meet the demands of a modern wholesale food market’ and noted that traders ‘highlighted the need for modern purpose-built facilities that ensure compliance with evolving food safety standards’. 

Policy Chairman of the City of London Corporation, Chris Hayward, said: 

‘The current market sites provide exciting opportunities to revitalise these historic areas of London. We will take care to ensure new plans for the area will reflect the history of the markets.

‘Our exciting future plans will create thousands of jobs; new homes for Londoners and contribute billions of pounds in economic growth for the UK.’

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