A dispute drags on between a small group of traders and the city council
15:12, 24 Jul 2026
Stephen Taylor runs the general hardware store Aladdin’s Cave in the Victoria Centre Market(Image: Joseph Raynor/Reach PLC)
Nottingham City Council will not increase the compensation offers it has made to market traders being turfed out of their site – despite one of those traders saying he could lose his house if he took it.
Just three traders are soon set to remain at the Victoria Centre Market in Nottingham and one of them says he would be prepared to participate in court action against the city council if necessary.
“The way they’ve behaved has just been outrageous”, said Stephen Taylor, the third generation to run the Aladdin’s Cave hardware store from the market.
Nottingham City Council says its lease on the market would have cost £39 million over the next 50 years and in a bid to save that money, the Labour-run authority first announced in 2022 that it wanted to give up the site.
Several closure dates have come and gone since then, none of which have resulted in an empty market, although the number of traders has continued to dwindle as most have agreed compensation offers with the council.
Yet a smaller group has held out for fair compensation offers and one of them began the process of legal action against the city council.
The authority eventually dropped its case against David Bowey of Tick King and that business is set to move into new premises later in the year.
It means just three traders will soon be left, but Mr Taylor says he would also be prepared to start legal action against the council as a matter of “principle.”
A city council spokesperson has told the Nottingham Post that in terms of its latest position on the market: “The current offers made to traders remain in place and will not be increased.”
Yet Mr Taylor says his current offer is half of what was proposed after the city council brought in a professional company to value all the Victoria Centre Market businesses.
The city council twice paid Bruton Knowles to negotiate with traders, but the furthest some ever got with those offers was seeing draft heads of terms.
Mr Taylor said: “This job is my pension, I’m third generation and when the previous generations retired, they still got a wage out of the business as their pensions, so by rights it should still be giving me a pension when my daughter takes it on – because we’ve still got 46 years on the lease.”
Nottingham City Council first said it wanted to close the Victoria Centre Market in 2022 (Image: Joseph Raynor/Nottingham Post )
Asked if he would consider relocating his business, Mr Taylor said: “Where we are now is perfect. It’s perfect for us, perfect for customers and perfect for Nottingham.
“If they stuck to their original offer, that would give me a chance of relocating, but I could still end up losing my house if the business didn’t take off immediately.
“On the current offer, there is a good chance I would lose my house.
“The stress it’s causing me is unbelievable. I couldn’t go out at the minute and buy a car on finance or move house because if they asked me whether I’ll still have a job next week, I’d say ‘I don’t know’. I’ve been in limbo.”
A Nottingham City Council spokesperson claimed the offers made to traders are “fair” and “ensure best value for the public.”
Although the city council said it was aiming to save money by exiting the Victoria Centre lease, it is facing the same costs at the market whilst bringing in heavily reduced rent due to the downturn in traders.
It means that the city council ended up losing nearly £400,000 in one year on the market, which is now mostly boarded up around the three remaining traders.
The city council spokesperson added: “While the council appreciates the constructive engagement from traders during this process, the council’s priority continues to be working closely with the shopping centre management team to progress its own lease exit from the Victoria Centre in the first instance.
“This is a critical step in enabling the orderly closure of the indoor market and securing vacant possession of the site.
“The council remains committed to ongoing dialogue with traders and will continue to provide support and guidance as the process moves forward.”
A spokesperson for the Victoria Centre said: “The market is run and operated by Nottingham City Council and they have been – and remain – fully responsible for all decisions regarding its future.”
In the meantime, Mr Taylor says trade remains strong and added: “The support we’ve had from the general public is fantastic. Every second customer says ‘keep up the fight, we’d miss you.'”
