London markets

Jules Pipe CBE
Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills; Co-Chair, London Markets Board

Jules Pipe is working on key priorities for the Mayor, including: implementation of the London Plan, major and community-led regeneration projects across the capital, building a skills system that properly addresses the needs of Londoners and the economy, and ensuring London’s infrastructure supports good growth, meets the needs of London’s communities and makes London a cleaner, greener and smarter City.

Previously Jules was the first directly elected mayor of Hackney in 2002 and served as Chair of London Councils from 2010 until he joined the Mayor’s team in 2016.

Helen Evans
Co-Chair, London Markets Board

Helen is a markets expert, formerly responsible for business development at New Covent Garden Market. She is also a member of the London Food Board.

At New Covent Garden Market, Helen supported 200-plus companies and was responsible for communications and stakeholder management. During this time NCGM received a gold Community Partnership award from the Food & Drink Federation for their work with local schools; the first Wholesale Market of the Year (2010) awarded by the National Association of British Market Authorities; The World Union of Wholesale Markets bronze award in 2011 for their work with local growers; and a gold medal for their 2016 installation at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Abdul Komor
Head of Street Trading at LB Waltham Forest; Chair of the Association of London Markets

Abdul has 18 years of experience working at 3 London Boroughs and currently as Head of Street Trading at London Borough of Waltham Forest. As part of Abdul’s current role he manages all aspects of Street Trading which includes the day-to-day management and operations of the longest outdoor street market in Europe. He is also responsible for setting the strategic direction and working closely with key stakeholders. Abdul is an active member of the London Street Trading Benchmarking Group and a member of the Association of London Markets group as well as a member of NABMA (National Association of British Markets).

Graham Wilson
Legal and Policy Consultant, National Association of British Market Authorities

Graham was Chief Executive of NABMA from 2004 to 2019, and during his tenure the organisation grew significantly both in membership and influence. Since 2019 he has been Legal and Policy Consultant for NABMA. A lawyer by profession, he has represented many local authorities and market operators on market policies and procedures both in United Kingdom and European Courts. In addition to supporting NABMA, Graham has advised the Local Government Association and central government on market issues. In 2012 he was awarded the OBE in recognition of his work supporting Retail Markets.

Joe Harrison
Chief Executive, National Markets Traders Federation

Joe Harrison is the Chief Executive of the National Markets Traders Federation; his core responsibilities include delivering the vision of the Executive Board; ensuring sustainable growth for the organisation; leading operational delivery from Head Office; and representing the NMTF, members, market traders and markets.

Rasha Obaid
Coffee Trader and Artist; Trustee, Well Grounded Jobs and Freedom From Torture; Visiting Fellow, LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security

Rasha is a coffee trader and artist with years of experience trading from Southbank market, as well as selling her artwork in the Anqa Collective, a market for refugee-led businesses. As a refugee from Yemen’s civil war and now a permanent resident of London, she is keenly aware of the essential role markets play in London’s refugee and immigrant communities and dedicates much of her time to mentoring other women to trade on markets. Through her work on the Board of Directors of Well Grounded, a London-based social enterprise providing job training for the coffee sector, she is committed to raising awareness about the platform that markets can provide for budding entrepreneurs and expanding opportunities for young women and others from refugee and immigrant backgrounds.
 
Rasha has over a decade’s experience in advocating for women. In addition to serving on the Board of Well Grounded she is also a Trustee for Freedom from Torture. Prior to obtaining temporary asylum in the U.K., she served as Director of the Division of Women, Peace, and Security at the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights, where she worked to implement UN Security Council Resolution 3125. Rasha is currently a Fellow at LSE’s Centre for Women, Peace and Security.

Catherine Brice
Head of Westminster Street Markets, Westminster Council

As Head of Westminster Street Markets compromising of more than 450 pitches in diverse areas across Westminster, Catherine has implemented strategies spanning six street markets to ensure they thrive, prosper and are well equipped to face future challenges. She has a passion for working directly with the community using groundbreaking innovation to bring positive and long-lasting change to the street markets. Aside from this role she has successfully delivered complex programmes driving significant business change, cost reduction and benefit realisation across Westminster and the Metropolitan Police Service.

Shanaaz Carroll
Director, Make the Link Ltd

Shanaaz has been an economic development and policy professional for over 25 years, including working for local, regional and central government where she has led programmes focused on economic policy, business and enterprise and regeneration including working closely with the private sector. Previous roles include Chief Executive of the Association of Town & City Management, where she worked for over five years supporting town centre partnerships; and working closely with government Ministers and officials on town centre and high streets policy.

As well as working closely with the markets industry, including with NMTF on the EU funded Go Trade project supporting market traders and destinations, Shanaaz has also led work on behalf of local enterprise partnerships and local authorities focused on people and places. In her spare time, she is an advocate for parents of young people experiencing difficulties and social exclusion and is also a mental health first- aider.

Cllr Rachel Tripp
Local Councillor, Forest Gate North ward

As a councillor at the London Borough of Newham since 2014, Rachel has a strong understanding of how local authorities work with markets. She has visited Newham markets, both personally as a keen customer and with the council’s Markets team and has built up relationships with a wide range of local markets stakeholders. Rachel is also a strong advocate for her local Woodgrange Market in Forest Gate, East London and particularly interested in how markets can contribute to the local economy, and strengthen high streets, as well as providing a place for people to meet, and for community projects to grow.

Dan O’Sullivan
Service Area Manager, Hackney Markets, Hackney Council

Dan is an experienced Service Area Manager for Hackney Council’s Markets team. He is currently accountable for providing a comprehensive management service for over 1100 Market or Street Trading license holders and over 300 bricks-and-mortar businesses across the borough. Under his leadership, the service provides best practice for the UK in terms of brand management, social media and marketing, and business and trader development through their award-winning Trading Places programme.

Alexander Jan
Chair of Central District Alliance and Hatton Garden BIDs; Chief Economic Adviser for the London Property Alliance; Independent consultant

Alex is chair of the business improvement district covering Hatton Garden - home to the popular Leather Lane market. He also chairs the Central District Alliance BID for Holborn and Clerkenwell and acts as an independent advisor to EC BID which takes in the famous Leadenhall market.

Alex has many years of experience advising on the future of the central London economy and the role of real estate development and transport in supporting good growth and employment, reflected in his work with the London Property Alliance. He is lucky enough to live in central London and experience the city as both resident and worker. He is currently writing a biography of Lord Ashfield, first chairman of London Transport.

Ben Milligan
Markets Director, City of London Corporation

Ben has been involved in market work since 2007, when he cut his teeth inspecting the street markets of Brick Lane, Truman Brewery, Whitechapel and Chrisp Street. He is currently leading the City of London’s three wholesale markets, and the plans to co-
 
locate these historic markets in Dagenham. He describes the ambitious £1bn change programme as one of the most significant and impactful projects involving markets for a generation, that will revolutionise the way food is accessed in London.

Prior to his appointment as Markets Director for the City of London Corporation, Ben was Head of Environmental Services for Adur and Worthing Councils and Superintendent of the Corporation’s New Spitalfields Market. He also previously headed up the Environmental Health Food Service with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets where he had responsibility for oversight of Billingsgate Market and some of London’s most well-known street markets.

Kate Howell
Director of Communications and Engagement, Borough Market

For the past 10 years Kate has been part of the senior leadership team at Borough Market, initially leading on communications and broadening her remit to cover all forms of stakeholder engagement. She is a key member of the Executive Leadership team tasked with overhauling the strategic development of London’s oldest market to ensure its long-term, sustainable future.

Her work at Borough Market has been driven by a strong belief in the central part that markets can play in revitalising communities, both economically and socially. She has been responsible for building the market’s brand, increasing engagement, and ensuring that the thoughts of the institution and its traders are regularly heard through the national media. Her work has included shaping strategic responses to some extremely challenging circumstances, including the 2017 terrorist attack, Brexit and the current pandemic, as well as driving positive coverage of the Market’s many amazing people and activities. She has also been instrumental in implementing the Market’s commitment to sustainability, ensuring that nothing goes to landfill and that as much as possible is repurposed.

Roger Austin
Programme Lead Woolwich, Royal Borough of Greenwich Council

Roger has worked in the public sector since 2001, predominantly in city planning, placemaking and regeneration for Westminster, Newham, Greenwich and Haringey councils. He has developed and led projects with a focus on markets, including isolated street trading in the West End, street markets, and indoor covered markets.

Roger recently set up and led on an investment strategy for a large regeneration project in Newham, centred around Queen’s Market, as well as heading up a borough- wide review of market policies and the development of individual strategies for council
 
operated markets. His work for Haringey included leading the co-design and adoption of the first market strategy and delivery plan for Seven Sisters Market working closely with the traders and key stakeholders including the GLA.

Roger now works at Greenwich leading the £17.1 Future High Streets Fund programme for Woolwich town centre, that focuses on place, public realm and workspace projects, including improvements to 400-year-old Beresford Square Market.

Lamide Olusegun
Animator and Creator of Lambsworld; Tomorrow’s Market Alumni

Lamide is a stop-motion animator from Hackney, and for the last four years has been building up his brand, Lambsworld. He is a Tomorrow’s Market Alumni and now sells handmade charms, keyrings, magnets and figurines of Lambs all over London.
Lambsworld has gained media attention from ITV, Guardian, BBC radio and local newspapers. He aspires to open Hackney’s first stop-motion animation studio, dedicated to telling stories that represent the borough.

Lambsworld has helped Lamide reach out to his community, and he hopes to eventually help other creative young people by offering animation apprenticeships. He has previously run art-therapy workshops at schools in Hackney and Tottenham, where kids learned to express themselves by creating figurines.

Paige Palmer
Technical Admin Officer, Newham Council Markets

Paige is a passionate advocate for markets and has been a proud member of the Markets team at Newham council for the past 5 years, as well as a resident of Newham for her whole life. Paige is committed to promoting and ensuring equality, and diversity in Markets and the community. Her current role involves communicating with market traders, members of the public and colleagues within the council to drive forward a shared agenda to secure the legacy of the borough’s markets. Paige is a key member of the team supporting the Queen’s Market Good Growth Fund project, taking a leading role in planning events with the local community and market traders. She has also led on community engagement, conducting interviews and conversations to further the council’s understanding of the needs, opinions and expectations of traders.

Hazel Durrant
Head of Operations, Urban Development; Business Development Consultant
 
Hazel is a born and bred Londoner who grew up in Hackney, describing Ridley Road market as part of her DNA. She has an in-depth knowledge of the needs of micro- businesses and small traders, having over 20 years’ experience of business development, mentoring and capacity building for microbusinesses, social entrepreneurs, sole traders and start-ups, particularly those that stem from underrepresented groups.

She has spent the past 15 years working with public sector clients, recently leading the Tomorrow’s Market commission, where she worked with the GLA team to refine the programme design, to help set recruitment criteria, on the candidate selection process and what success would look like. She worked with business leaders and the independent market providers on the cross-fertilisation of business models (public and commercial), on the mentoring development pipeline and on the final recommendations for phase II of Tomorrow’s market to build on the pilot project once the commission was completed. She continues to support traders from the TM programme with business development and growth opportunities.

Ian Dodds
Director, KERB & Seven Dials Market

Ian has led the development of KERB, London’s largest street food organisation and incubator, over a ten-year period. Working with a present membership pool of 80 members, his role includes creating opportunities and helping to develop businesses through a four-step development ecosystem. Ian now leads on the development of new business opportunities for the organisation, working with landowners and external organisations to build indoor and outdoor markets across London and further afield, as well as guiding the day-to-day operations across the organisation.

Ian has extensive experience developing relationships and securing new businesses deals. He collaborates with a large spread of independent market businesses and has a thorough understanding of their needs and development plans. He led on the design, creative development and tenant mix of KERB Camden Market, and Seven Dials Market. He is also experienced in consultancy, marketing, business strategy and development, client relations and HR.

Sarah Lang
Produce and Trader Consultant; Managing Director, LCFE Ltd

Sarah has a comprehensive knowledge of London’s markets, beginning her career 20 years ago as a trader and transitioning into managing and developing some of the city’s most exciting markets. She has managed one of the largest markets in London, Borough Market, and continues to source new traders and provide support to them in a consultancy role. She was previously Head of Markets at KERB and project manager for their Camden build.
 
Sarah was recently responsible for advising Kensington and Chelsea Council on post-pandemic recovery for the borough's markets. She has supported many new market traders that set up during the Covid-19 pandemic, including mentoring small producers to help them better respond to market demand and increase the viability of their businesses. As well as this, Sarah manages a CIC market in Primrose Hill that focuses on supporting the local community.
 

2024

• 19 February

2023

• 8 November
• 27 June
• 24 February

2022

• 4 October

2021

• 16 June
• 24 February

2020

• 27 October
• 08 July
• 26 February

2019

• 02 October
• 19 June
• 23 April
• 15 February

2018

• 8 February
• 25 May
• 4 September
• 11 December

London Markets Board Terms of Reference