The meat market at Smithfield today

THE historic meat market is almost certain to leave its 1,000-year-old Smithfield site and move to Barking after traders agreed to a “negotiated” deal with landlords City of London.

The final deal, which would see the traders move to a £100million site in Dagenham Dock, is expected to be rubber stamped in a “special meeting” to be held at the Guildhall on Thursday. More than 100 people are expected to attend.

The 2,000 meat workers at the site finally agreed to leave earlier this year after years of wrangling with their landlords about the forced move.

Greg Lawrence, chairman of Smithfield Market Tenants’ Association, said: “We’ve completed the negotiations with the City of London. There were still two or three issues but we think that’s all been solved and we hope they will decide – and they will – to sign off at common council.”

Explaining the change of heart after what had been a venomous battle at times, Mr Lawrence said the City of London had brought a better deal to the table.

While the original plans involved relocating three markets to Barking – ­Spitalfields New Market as well as Smithfield and Billingsgate Fish Market – it is expected Spitalfields in Leyton will now remain where it is.

The City of London has planned a landmark “super-market” site in east London, which is expected to be the largest in Europe. It is due to open within five years.

They purchased an old power station in Dagenham Dock in 2018 but faced resistance from the meat traders who had threatened to take their fight to parliament.

Unloading meat and poultry at Smithfield Market in the 20th century. Photo: Museum of London (Henry Grant)

Mr Lawrence, who at 72 has traded at Smithfields since he was 16, said the move will be difficult for the men and women who work there.

He said: “I’ll be very, very, very, very sad. I joined here in 1966 when I was a teenager – 16 – and I’ve built up businesses on the market. I’m a liveryman in the City of London. I am a freeman of the City of London. It’s all I’ve ever known. And everyone will be sad because it’s a wonderful place to work.

“The characters are what make it a wonderful place – it’s like no other place you’ll ever work in your life. Seriously. It’s fun for people to come to work every single day. We will just miss it. Your life revolves around it because of the hours you do. It will be very sad but you have to move on; if it was a landlord you could say this is the time to move. Down in Barking there’s no Congestion Charge.”

While business has always been booming at Smithfield, Mr Lawrence admitted the future is not guaranteed in Barking.

“We like to think we’ll make a success of it,” he said. “But who knows? We’ll be 12 miles down the road. We like to think the restaurants will [continue to] come and we’ll serve the restaurants and hotels, so it’s going to be a different way of working.”

If the move is given the green light next week, the Museum of London will be one step closer to its planned relocation to Smithfield. Doors to its current building in London Wall close on December 4, with a weekend festival planned prior to its closure.

A City of London Corporation spokesperson said: “The new site at Dagenham Dock could provide market tenants with room for growth and environmentally sustainable facilities fit for the 21st century, while stimulating economic growth in the local area.

“The current market sites present the opportunity to reinvigorate a historic part of the City at Smithfield with a vibrant cultural and commercial offer. We cannot comment on the details of ongoing negotiations.”