Sheffield City Council considered suing The Moor owner NewRiver for banishing market traders

By David Walsh
Published 16th Feb 2023, 04:45 BST
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​​​​​​​Sheffield City Council chiefs considered suing the owners of The Moor after it ordered market traders off the street, documents show.

Lawyers wrote to NewRiver urging the firm to stick to an ‘informal arrangement’ which allowed stallholders to operate six days a week. But the company insisted on following the letter of the lease agreement, which permits a maximum of three. At that point the authority ‘considered legal action’, according to a Freedom of Information response seen by The Star.

Meanwhile traders have had to shift to council-owned Moorfoot on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Some have given up, while those that moved say takings are 75 per cent down and they are losing money.

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NewRiver ordered traders off The Moor to ‘enhance the goods and services on offer’. The company has a Public Realm Management agreement with Sheffield City Council regarding the markets.

Flower seller Andrew Millard says takings are 75 per cent down at Moorfoot compared to The Moor.Flower seller Andrew Millard says takings are 75 per cent down at Moorfoot compared to The Moor.
Flower seller Andrew Millard says takings are 75 per cent down at Moorfoot compared to The Moor.

The council’s Freedom of Information response states: ‘When New River insisted on implementation of the new agreement, our lawyers did write to them to try and keep the informal arrangement, which enables trading on six days. We did consider legal action but in the end never took any’.

Major events manager Gary Clifton said: “At the very early stages of discussions with New River, all options were considered including legal action. Upon inspection of the relevant documentation and discussion with Sheffield City Council’s legal team it was concluded that legal action would not lead to any change in the ultimate decision. The agreement in place made it very clear NRR’s position and we had to accept it.”

A NewRiver REIT spokesman said: “Since acquiring The Moor in April 2021, NewRiver and its joint venture partner have made significant progress with enhancing and modernising the area for shoppers and local stakeholders. This has included securing popular new occupiers, including Sport Direct – which houses the USC and Game brands – the leisure venue Boom Battle Bar and the iconic US burger chain, Five Guys. These improvements helped footfall to The Moor increase by 36 per cent to more than 11 million in 2022. We are committed to further enhancements to ensure The Moor remains the beating heart of Sheffield for shopping and leisure activities.”