Borough Market 2030 Strategy

2030 STRATEGY OUR JOURNEY AHEAD

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“THE LOCAL FOOD MARKET WAS MORE THAN A FINANCIAL OR COMMODITY EXCHANGE, IT WAS ALSO AN EXCHANGE OF VALUES; IT BOUND PEOPLE INTO A KIND OF SHARED MORALITY ABOUT HOW THINGS SHOULD BE DONE.” James Rebanks, English Pastoral: An Inheritance

2030 STRATEGY CONTENTS INTRODUCTION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR FOREWARD BY THE CEO

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BACKGROUND OUR PROCESS OUR PURPOSE OUR APPROACH OUR STRATEGIC PILLARS

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OUR STRATEGY FOOD PLACE VOICE SUSTAINABILITY EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION (EDI) FINANCE, PEOPLE, DIGITAL & GOVERNANCE

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APPENDICES 1. RISK MANAGEMENT 2. CONTRIBUTORS 3. STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION 4. ENDORSEMENTS 5. CUSTOMER PROFILES 6. SWOT ANALYSIS 7. PESTLE ANALYSIS 8. PURPOSE DEVELOPMENT 9. REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

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COPYRIGHT The Trustees of Borough Market 8 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TL 020 7407 1002 Charity number 1076940 Publication date November 2023 Photography Sim Canetty-Clarke, Gill Flett, Kris Piotrowski, Sophia Spring 2030 Strategy & reference documents available to download at boroughmarket.org.uk/2030-strategy

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PART ONE: INTRODUCTION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

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FOREWORD BY THE CEO

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of the Borough Market 2030 Strategy is to lay out in simple terms the strategic direction of Borough Market over the next seven years. As well as helping us deliver the ongoing day-to-day operation of the Market in a way that meets the needs of our many stakeholders, it aims to concisely define our place in the world and outline our intention to contribute positively towards it.

This strategy is significantly informed by Borough Market’s status as a charitable trust run by a board of volunteer trustees, a highly unusual form of ownership for a British food market and one that is deeply rooted in our centuries-long history. The official charitable purpose of the Borough Market Trust, as registered with the Charity Commission, reads: “The provision of a market as a public amenity for the benefit of the public and relief of the rates for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of St Saviours, Southwark.”

This statement is a purely functional one. In order to guide the creation of our strategy and succinctly communicate the intent that underpins it, one of the first stages of the 2030 Strategy project was to create a statement that encapsulates the Market’s organisational purpose in a clearer and more accessible way. After a lengthy consultation process, the Trust has agreed on the following: “For community, the love of food and a better tomorrow.”

There is an obvious imperative that can be drawn from this purpose statement: unlike most marketplaces, Borough Market should be aiming for outcomes that go beyond the creation of profit.

Rather than being an end in itself, the economic success of the Market and its stakeholders must serve the charity’s broader function as an asset for our local community, a source of high-quality food, a beacon for sustainable, ethical practices, and a crucible of specialist knowledge and skills.

Throughout this strategy there are a number of themes drawn from this purpose statement that come through repeatedly: the need to be accessible to, engaged with and representative of our local community; the centrality of high-quality food to everything we do; and the aspiration to be an active agent for positive change.

Of course, for the Trust to be successful in serving the community and helping shape a better tomorrow, we need to create and maintain a thriving trading environment. We would be nothing without our 140-plus strong community of independent traders and commercial tenants, which range in scale from one person on an umbrella stall, to larger stands, to restaurants, pubs and bars, and enabling them to flourish is an absolute prerequisite if our charitable purpose is to be met. The success of the charity and the success of the traders are indivisible. The challenge for the Trust, through the 2030 Strategy and beyond, is to beat a path that meets the economic needs of traders while also fulfilling the charity’s obligations to the local community and the wider world.

In simple terms, that means providing the physical environment and logistical support needed for these independent businesses to be able to do their work with the minimum of distraction. It means improving the shopping experience. It means attracting a diverse customer base that includes people from the local community and regular produce shoppers as well as diners and drinkers, tourists and daytrippers.

It also means shaping a food offering that is consistently aligned with our principles of quality, animal welfare, sustainability, uniqueness, variety and accessibility, and by creating and communicating that genuine point of difference, giving shoppers a better sense of the true value of what they’re buying and the benefits of spending their money here. In doing so, the success of our traders becomes not just a foundation of our charitable purpose but a beneficiary of it.

Our aim is that by 2030 the ambitions set out in this strategy will be fully realised. Some of the key initiatives needed to fulfil those ambitions and meet the more detailed commitments that accompany them are outlined here, but others will follow from the detailed analysis and consultation required in many of the areas covered by the document.

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The strategy has been organised under five main headings: Food, Place, Voice, Sustainability, and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI).

The ambitions we have agreed to meet are: OUR FOOD AMBITION is to implement our Food Policy so that clearly defined standards of food quality, environmental and social sustainability and animal welfare are being met clearly and consistently across the site. Our food offering will be culturally diverse and provide a mix of staples and luxuries, always putting the needs of our local community first. Shoppers will have access not just to good food but to traders’ knowledge and expertise.

OUR PLACE AMBITION is to optimise our space and assets to improve the Borough Market experience for shoppers, making it safer, more welcoming, more accessible and easier to navigate.

We will also provide the setting and support needed for this to be a great place to trade for businesses of all sizes and specialisms. In doing so we will adopt new ways of working and embrace new technologies, without undermining the character of our historic estate.

OUR VOICE AMBITION is to leverage our public profile to significantly increase awareness of our charitable status and purpose. We will also amplify the knowledge and insights of our traders to positively influence the relationships shoppers and people in our local community have with the Market and its food.

Our aim is to have a strong voice that is heard and trusted on a local, national and, eventually, world stage.

OUR SUSTAINABILITY AMBITION is to be a champion for environmentally and socially sustainable modes of food production, employment and trade, while making our own estate an example of good practice. To do this, we must first develop a clear understanding of what sustainability means for Borough Market, bring everyone to the same level of knowledge, and make that understanding central to all decision making.

OUR EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION (EDI) AMBITION is for the Market and the Trust to fully reflect and represent the vibrant, multicultural central London locality of which we are a part, and to be accessible and welcoming to all. We need to make EDI part of our thinking in every aspect of our work, to ensure that the diversity of our community is reflected across everything we do and everyone we work and partner with.

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“THERE IS A CLEAR IMPERATIVE THAT CAN BE DRAWN FROM OUR PURPOSE STATEMENT: UNLIKE MOST MARKETS, BOROUGH MARKET SHOULD BE AIMING FOR OUTCOMES THAT GO BEYOND THE CREATION OF PROFIT.”

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR ADRIAN BUNNIS, CHAIR OF TRUSTEES The publication of this strategy comes at a time of tumultuous change for Borough Market and the world around us.

Creating a strategy and defining our organisational purpose were key recommendations of our Governance Review in 2021, neither of which came as a surprise. Borough Market is a charity with a duty to do more than just be a commercially viable operation. However, there is as yet little awareness of our charitable status and we have not fully established the benefits of Borough Market to the local community. If anything, there is a perception that this is a market of privilege in one of the most underprivileged areas of London.

Our offer too needs clarifying. While we are proud of our traders, our estate, our strategic partnerships and our contributions to debates around food, the moves we have made to give direction to our work have been piecemeal at best. We have only recently – with the publication of our Food Policy – defined the principles that underpin the food we serve. We are yet to define what sustainability and EDI mean for us, let alone weave them into all our thinking and activities.

Establishing strong foundations across all of these areas will aid our journey into the future, and our traders, tenants and teams will be important partners on this journey. The road, however, will not be easy. Having barely emerged from the shock of the pandemic, we face spiralling costs, an energy crisis, staff shortages, the complex aftermath of Brexit, and geo-political unrest. There is no knowing how these will develop or what new threats may emerge. Against this backdrop, we must navigate the present crises while ensuring we remain relevant for years to come. We want to pursue our charitable objective and organisational purpose with fresh vigour, amplify the benefits of Borough Market and make a positive contribution to the conversations that matter to us.

We know we can’t do this alone. Building our relationships with neighbours, like-minded organisations and individuals will be of the utmost importance. We want to work together to put clear plans in place, deliver on our vision and ambition, remain agile and embrace new ideas.

The Borough Market Board has unanimously agreed this document.

My thanks to all the trustees for their hard work and commitment in what was a long and involved development process. My term on the Board will be coming to an end in January 2024, when Shane Holland, our current vice chair elect, will be taking over as chair. I know that I will be leaving the ownership of this strategy in good hands.

The seven years covered by this strategy are a drop in the ocean compared to the Market’s 1,000-year history. Borough Market has lived through many crises. It has, through embracing the opportunities that come from change, adapted, grown and thrived.

Our challenge is to ensure it continues to do so.

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“WE WANT TO PURSUE OUR CHARITABLE OBJECTIVE AND ORGANISATIONAL PURPOSE WITH FRESH VIGOUR, AMPLIFY THE BENEFITS OF BOROUGH MARKET AND MAKE A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION TO THE CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER TO US.”

FOREWORD BY THE CEO JANE SWIFT, CEO A market, particularly one as large, busy and high-profile as Borough, is a complex organism. It’s not just the logistics of hosting well over 100 small businesses and serving millions of visitors on a small, tight, historic site that are complicated; so too is the need to balance a multitude of competing opinions and expectations from a large and highly impassioned set of stakeholders. People care deeply about this place: the traders whose skill, graft and vision are central to what we do, the shoppers who come here in their droves, the local community that surrounds us. When it comes to setting the direction of the Market, very few people with any connection to this place can be accused of indifference.

That’s why, when we came to draw up the strategy that will shape the Market over the remainder of this decade, it was vitally important that we did so in a spirit of openness. Rather than build on preconceived notions, we wanted to hear from all the different voices in our broad community and seek a way forward that, while never likely to please absolutely everyone, was strongly informed by what we’d heard.

To those ends, the consultation and feedback sessions that fed into the creation of this document included traders, staff, trustees, local residents, community organisations, local businesses, charities and food experts. We also brought in a wide range of external contributors with expertise in areas such as sustainability, EDI and strategy development, whose guidance helped the Board ensure that the right questions were being asked.

The result is, I believe, representative of a broad consensus. I have no doubt that there will be people who care passionately about this place who think we are going too far or not far enough, that we are moving too fast or moving too slow, but I hope that very few will disagree with the central intent of the strategy: to make the Market a better place to shop, trade and work, provide a consistent source of unique, high-quality, sustainably produced food, and act as a positive influence beyond our estate while better serving and representing the local community that hosts us.

The ambitions set out in here will take time to be realised. Off the back of this strategy, my role as CEO is to work with my team to turn the principles set out in this document into detailed action plans. In several key areas, that can only begin in earnest once we have developed a more granular understanding of the current circumstances and the potential options for change. It has also required a restructuring of our team to ensure we have the right people in place to help realise our ambitions. In the coming years, we will provide regular updates on our progress. Our intention is that by 2030 the changes triggered by this strategy will be clear for all to see.

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“RATHER THAN BUILD ON PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS, WE WANTED TO HEAR FROM ALL THE DIFFERENT VOICES IN OUR BROAD COMMUNITY AND SEEK A WAY FORWARD THAT WAS STRONGLY INFORMED BY WHAT WE’D HEARD.”

PART TWO: BACKGROUND OUR PROCESS

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OUR PURPOSE

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OUR APPROACH

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OUR STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

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BACKGROUND OUR PROCESS The process for creating the 2030 Strategy has been highly collaborative one, involving extensive workshopping, consultation, information gathering and feedback.

Foundations were laid by an independent Governance Review, which was commissioned by the Board in 2021. The review resulted in a series of recommendations that were accepted in full by the Trust and have informed the creation of the 2030 Strategy.

As part of the Governance Review Implementation Programme, work on the 2030 Strategy has been led by our Strategy & Planning Working Group, which includes two of our trustees, Danny Homan and Shawn Anderson. The Board of Trustees has been kept informed throughout and is ultimately responsible for agreeing the strategy.

Work started in earnest in January 2022 with a food policy panel discussion, attended by the Board of Trustees and the senior management team, which explored in some depth topics relevant to the Food pillar of this strategy. The Market’s first-ever Food Policy was published in August 2022.

A strategy away day for trustees was organised for March 2022 – a full-day workshop facilitated by Mallika Basu and featuring an impressive cast of external speakers, who delivered inspiring, thoughtprovoking sessions on Purpose, Sustainability, Food, Voice, Place and EDI, each of which was followed by a discussion in which trustees could ask questions and articulate their opinions.

A strategy-focused trader conference followed in May 2022, also facilitated by Mallika, at which many of the same speakers presented their ideas, with each session again followed by open discussions. Two strategy workshops were also held with the Market’s staff, giving the entire team the chance to share their thoughts.

Bringing our stakeholders, partners, traders, local community and a representative group of consumers into discussions about the strategy was absolutely integral to our efforts. The draft strategy and purpose statement were shared with numerous stakeholder groups, and their insights and concerns were taken into account in subsequent drafts. (See appendix 3 and 4 for a full list of participants.) The open, collaborative style that characterised this process will form the blueprint for how we engage with stakeholders as the 2030 Strategy is developed and implemented.

An update was provided at the May meeting of the Board of Trustees, and a follow-up session in July 2022 enabled all Trustees to feed back on the first draft of the high-level strategy pack. Regular monitoring of the progress of the strategy has been undertaken by the Board’s Governance Review Strategy & Planning Working Group, which has met periodically since earlier in the year.

Since the draft strategy was signed off by the Board in October 2022, considerable work has gone into re-drafting, editing, reviewing and approving the strategy. In parallel, a major restructure of the Borough Market team has been undertaken, with the aim of placing the organisation in the best possible position to successfully deliver the agreed ambitions. This has led to the creation of several new roles linked to specific commitments within the strategy.

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BACKGROUND

OUR PURPOSE Borough Market has a historic charitable objective: “The provision of a market as a public amenity for the benefit of the public and relief of the rates for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of St Saviours, Southwark.”

This is a purely functional statement, indicating that a market must remain here to everyone’s benefit and that any funds generated are reinvested.

In order to guide the creation of our 2030 Strategy and succinctly communicate the intent that underpins it, we have sought to create a statement that more fully encapsulates the Market’s organisational purpose.

While it has been extremely challenging to distil the many facets of Borough Market into a short purpose statement, five words were repeated across the discussions we had with stakeholders: food, quality, people, community and connection. Based on this, we have agreed on the following: “For community, the love of food and a better tomorrow.”

Purpose

“FOR COMMUNITY, THE LOVE OF FOOD AND A BETTER TOMORROW.” Borough Market purpose statement

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BACKGROUND

OUR APPROACH The approach we will take to deliver our 2030 Strategy is what one of our expert speakers described as “radical transparency”. This means we will be clear in our targets, honest about what we have delivered, open about the shape of our ongoing efforts, and courageous in sharing what remains to be achieved.

Much of what is set out in this document will require us to lean on the expertise of some external specialists, alongside the existing knowledge of our trustees, staff, traders and other stakeholders. For example, when it comes to creating detailed food standards, a fully rounded sustainability policy and a genuinely impactful EDI policy, we know we have a lot to learn from individuals and organisations who have walked these paths before and can help us navigate the nuances of some highly complex fields.

Finding the right strategic partners – then working with them in an open and collaborative manner – will, we have no doubt, be of the utmost importance to the success of this strategy.

Our hope is that as this process unfolds we will gain understanding and insights of our own that we can then share, in the spirit of radical transparency. In the years to come, we expect to confront some significant challenges. Our experiences in doing so, both good and bad, may be of help to others who find themselves setting out on a similar journey.

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BACKGROUND

OUR STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK As a foundation for our strategy, we have used three key pillars. Along with our commitments to sustainability and equity, diversity & inclusion (EDI), these create a strategic framework that brings consistency to our thinking, planning and implementation. Our three key pillars cover: 1. FOOD

Food, particularly high-quality food, is central to everything we do. The produce and catered food sold by the Market’s traders are the most visible manifestations of our approach, but far from the only ones; we also need to consider how food informs the work of the trust as a whole, our tenants, staff and third parties. As well as selling food, the Market is also a repository of specialist food knowledge and skills.

2. PLACE

As guardians of this historic estate, we have a duty to conserve its heritage while making it fit for a modern operation. This means developing the maintenance, management, layout and function of the physical site, while building our digital capabilities to complement it online.

3. VOICE

As a charity, we use our voice to engage directly with our local communities, amplify our traders’ expertise, influence discussions about food, promote our values, and share what we learn along the way.

Woven through the three pillars is a focus on sustainability and EDI. They also stand on their own and need to be part of the way we think and everything we do, genuinely and authentically.

Our strategic pillars and commitments are supported by operational enablers: finance, people, digital and governance. We will need to invest in people with the right skills, experience and behaviours, the right partnerships and relationships, systems, processes and tools to ensure that our desire to fulfil this strategy stands the greatest chance of success.

CHARITABLE OBJECTIVE

“The provision of a market as a public amenity for the benefit of the public and relief of the rates for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of St Saviours, Southwark.”

ORGANISATIONAL PURPOSE

“For community, the love of food and a better tomorrow.”

FOOD

PLACE

SUSTAINABILITY FINANCE

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PEOPLE

VOICE

EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION DIGITAL

GOVERNANCE

PART THREE: OUR STRATEGY FOOD

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PLACE

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VOICE

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SUSTAINABILITY

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EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION (EDI)

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FINANCE, PEOPLE, DIGITAL & GOVERNANCE

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Food “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ‘CHEAP FOOD’” Patrick Holden, Sustainable Food Trust

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FOOD CONTEXT By centuries-long tradition, Borough Market is a market with food at its heart. Since Borough’s rebirth as a retail market in the late 1990s, it has become known as a source of high-quality, sustainably produced British and international food, sold by traders notable for their knowledge and specialist skills.

That emphasis on quality, sustainability and knowledge is now more important than ever before. Our entire food system is at a critical juncture. The cost of industrialised food production is vast and growing. While industrially produced food may be cheap to the consumer, its costs on physical and mental health, climate change, environmental degradation, biodiversity, animal welfare and traditional cultures and skills are borne by a far wider constituency. Food poverty, too, is a real and growing concern, but Borough Market doesn’t believe that it can be addressed by lowering standards in the pursuit of lower prices. Pricing should be fair and demonstrate value, but it must also reflect the true costs of sustainable production and the need for all people in the supply chain to receive an equitable reward.

The Market’s reputation for food quality and sustainability is, for the most part, well deserved, but there remain some inconsistencies. July 2022 saw the launch of our Borough Market Food Policy, which defines the fundamental principles that will underpin the delivery of our strategy as it relates to food. The Trust has in recent years embedded some basic conditions into the application processes for new traders and new products, but it had not previously been possible for our approach to be shared, tested or challenged. That is what the new Food Policy seeks to change. The policy applies to all the food sold by our traders, but it goes much further than that, covering the Trust, staff, tenants and third parties.

Over the next five years, the principles in the Food Policy will be used to drive the creation of a detailed set of food standards for each category of food. We will also create a timeline and support structures for those standards to be phased in, and practical, equitable systems for assessing compliance and incentivising traders to go further still, all of which will be part of the portfolio of our new Food Standards Manager. We have also created the new role of Trader Development Manager, whose remit includes supporting existing traders as they evolve their business models, and proactively scouting for new traders who are able to meet the Market’s principles and can help fill gaps in our offering. We will also continue to adapt our trader application process so that we are developing, mentoring and trialling promising applicants rather than only offering binary judgements. By 2030, shoppers will have a stronger understanding of what defines Borough Market food and greater confidence in its consistency.

Our published Food Policy flows through all aspects of our strategy, with one of our primary aims being the need to represent the diversity of our neighbourhood and be more welcoming and accessible to those closest to us. To these ends, we will look closely at the overall balance of our offering (for example, between basics and luxuries). We will use our traders’ knowledge to educate shoppers about seasonal price variations and the availability of more affordable but lesser known ingredients, and give them the necessary information to extract maximum value from their purchases. We will look at the breadth of different cultures represented by our food offering and work to ensure it better reflects our central London setting. We will also do more to nurture start-ups and social enterprises and give support and opportunities to small, specialist businesses that are too small to run a full-time stall themselves.

We know we can’t do this alone. Partnerships with like-minded individuals and organisations will be crucial, as will the efforts of our trader community. Our traders are under immense pressures with rising costs, staffing challenges and more issues on the horizon. We want to work collaboratively with them, staying flexible and agile to navigate the external environment and embrace new ways of working.

OUR FOOD AMBITION is to implement our Food Policy so that clearly defined standards of food quality, environmental and social sustainability and animal welfare are being met clearly and consistently across the site. Our food offering will be culturally diverse and provide a mix of staples and luxuries, always putting the needs of our local community first. Shoppers will have access not just to good food but to traders’ knowledge and expertise.

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FOOD

COMMITMENTS By 2030, we will: — Have a detailed, publically available, category-specific set of food standards in place, with which all traders are aligned.

— Use the Food Policy to support decision making on the shape of the Market’s overall food offering, working collaboratively with our traders to navigate these developments.

— Clarify our place within the broader context of London food with a clearly differentiated offer that strikes the right balance between various elements: — Produce and catered food — British and international food — Producers and merchants — Specialists and generalists — Basics and luxuries — Ensure that our food and trader base reflect the diversity of our local community, and engage local people in learning and caring about food.

— Nurture and grow more start-up businesses and social enterprises.

— Accommodate high-quality food produced by small, specialist businesses that are too small to run a full-time stall themselves.

KEY INITIATIVES TO UNDERTAKE — Embed the Food Policy into our decision making and conduct ongoing reviews to optimise its impact and relevance.

— Review our existing food offer in the whole to assess its alignment with the principles set out in the Food Policy.

— Create clear quality standards for traders, and systems for supporting traders in meeting or exceeding them.

— Implement an audit programme to ensure standards are maintained or improved.

— Evolve the site and food offering to meet our charitable objectives and put local shoppers first.

— E xplore the different ways in which our assets and resources can be used to make Borough Market more welcoming and beneficial to locals.

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Place “HOW DO WE MAKE THIS PLACE USEFUL AND RELEVANT?” Paul Lincoln, Landscape Institute

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PLACE CONTEXT While a market fundamentally exists for the trade of goods, it is also a place for people to eat, meet and learn – a place of human interaction in a society beset by social isolation and the depersonalising effects of technology. There was no bigger demonstration of this than at the peak of the Covid pandemic, when shoppers turned to their local markets not only for supplies but for a sense of connection with other people.

This means that in considering Borough Market as a place, we need to take into account the commercial needs of our traders and tenants, but also its importance as a public space.

Borough Market has a proud heritage, having occupied much the same footprint since 1756. This heritage brings with it the unique functional challenges that come from managing a busy, modern operation on an estate constrained by space, located under railway viaducts, with leaky roofs and uneven flooring, old infrastructure and historic architecture. Yet these characteristics are the very things that give the site its charm and character, adding up to a significant draw for visitors.

The Market’s exposure and popularity around the world is bringing ever-higher visitor numbers, which creates its own challenges. The area around us is developing apace, and for many of our new residents and local businesses, Borough Market’s vibrancy is fundamental to the area’s appeal. However, high footfall on a porous, free-flowing site can also have undesirable effects. Crowded spaces can also be a threat to public safety and an impediment to shopping – produce traders, in particular, do not always benefit from high visitor volumes. In the absence of clear boundary markings, there are also challenges in ensuring that visitors are aware of which businesses are part of the Market (and reflect the Market’s values) and which lie beyond its control. As a result of this heavy flow of visitors, some locals feel – rightly or wrongly – that the Market is not a place for them.

In recent years, various steps have been taken to improve the functioning of the site for visitors – for example, opening the Market on Sundays, the pedestrianisation of most of Stoney Street, the creation of The Borough Market Store as a public reception area and shop, and the widening of some passageways.

However, the need to rapidly repurpose the space to meet the demands of the pandemic did have some negative effects, most notably on the Market Hall. We need to make the site as safe a place as possible to visit or work, and consistently deliver a smooth, enjoyable Borough Market experience – a task that involves managing and guiding the flow of people, while respecting our neighbours (and drawing them to the Market), minimising our environmental impact, and ensuring we are accessible and welcoming to all.

We also need the brand to live and breathe online for those who want to partake of Borough Market’s food, knowledge and atmosphere, but are unable to travel here – but do so without taking away from the physical experience. We also need to embrace technology within the site itself. This includes finding ways of using digital mapping and wayfinding tools to enhance the shopping experience, and making our online content such as recipes, articles and trader listings more interactive for on-site visitors. For that to happen, we need a better understanding of who our visitors are, how they use the site and what we could do to both improve their own experience and shape it so that it better benefits our traders and other local stakeholders. This should inform a clear whole-site plan that takes a strategic view of developments, rather than a piecemeal approach.

How the space is set up and managed also has a fundamental impact on our traders. We need to ensure that our physical infrastructure and support services are configured in a way that enables traders to focus on producing and promoting high-quality food rather than negotiating logistical challenges. We want Borough to be a well organised, supportive environment in which to trade, even for small businesses that lack large backroom teams.

This should in turn help us attract and retain traders whose offering represents the very best of each category.

OUR PLACE AMBITION is to optimise our space and assets to improve the Borough Market experience for shoppers, making it safer, more welcoming, more accessible and easier to navigate. We will also provide the setting and support needed for this to be a great place to trade for businesses of all sizes and specialisms. In doing so we will adopt new ways of working and embrace new technologies, without undermining the character of our historic estate.

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PLACE

COMMITMENTS By 2030, we will: — Implement a whole-site plan to make the best use of our estate.

— Improve accessibility and manage footfall, balancing weekend-centric visitors with weekday shoppers.

— Use the latest technology to enhance the brand, estate and food experience on site.

— Bring the essence of Borough Market online, giving greater access to our knowledge and products.

KEY INITIATIVES TO UNDERTAKE — Develop a whole-site plan with mapping, usage review and boundary marking.

— Update our customer profiles and carry out research to better understand their needs and fulfil them where appropriate.

— Review the wayfinding experience and user journey.

— Periodically review what Borough Market provides by way of an online retail service for itself and for its traders.

— Explore the latest technologies and tools to provide a market-leading and commercially viable trader and customer experience both on site and online.

— Explore options for financing what is likely to be a multi-year plan of investment in our site.

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Voice “WE NEED TO BE EDUCATING WITHOUT DICTATING” Nilesha Chauvet, The Good Agency

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VOICE CONTEXT As awareness grows of the benefits of a values-driven society, people need to be empowered to play an active part in shaping not only the choices open to them as individuals but also those that impact wider society. Many people are now turning to charities and businesses to fulfil a leadership role by educating, informing and driving change. As a result, it is incumbent upon charitable organisations like ours to have a clear purpose, build closer relationships with our communities, and bring them along on the journey to deliver on that purpose.

Because of its global reputation, Borough Market can have an influence that reaches well beyond the confines of our estate. The expertise and storytelling power found among our traders is our other great asset. Together, this reach and expertise give us an incredible platform to share our knowledge and help shape the thinking and behaviour of people, primarily in our local community but also far beyond.

The issue for Borough Market is that, at present, there is limited public awareness of our charitable status and objectives, even among regular visitors. Our website and social media accounts attract a large audience. Our location and reputation help facilitate regular media coverage. And yet the fact that the Trust is a charitable entity with a wider social purpose, rather than a purely commercial one, is not widely known or understood. The Market is highly regarded as a destination and source of high-quality food, but the purpose of the charity and its contributions to the local community need greater emphasis.

Without a strong, coherent voice for the Trust, other external sources of information and opinion will be left to shape public perceptions of what the Market stands for.

Our traders, with their passion and expertise, will remain at the heart of all this. We need to find more ways for them to share their knowledge directly with customers, partners and the local community.

As well as producing our own content, our aspiration is to build a highly credible, diverse body of likeminded individuals and institutions who can amplify our purpose: we want people to advocate for and influence positive relationships with food on our behalf as much as we do on theirs.

Direct engagement within our local community is essential. We have made significant progress in this area. Successful, well-established partnerships and community initiatives are already in place, including with School Food Matters, Southwark Young Entrepreneurs and Plan Zheroes, all of which provide direct benefits to local people as well as helping us communicate our messaging. Our creation of a new post of Community & Learning Manager will help us strengthen and expand these local connections.

While our primary focus will be on our local community, as a cosmopolitan food market in the heart of a global city it is important that we build on the close connections we have made with markets and other relevant organisations throughout the UK and the rest of the world. We will continue to visit, learn from and share our experiences with our peers both at home and abroad and be a welcoming location for visitors who wish to gain a deeper understanding of our approach.

As a charity, we need to develop a stronger, more coherent point of view that aligns with our broader strategy while being representative of the current realities in the Market. By distilling our position on the topics that matter to us, we can have a much stronger voice and influence, but before attempting to expand our reach we first need to ensure that the Market itself consistently lives up to the principles we promote through our messaging. Primarily, we need to lead through our own actions, then use our many channels to share what we are doing and why.

OUR VOICE AMBITION is to leverage our public profile to significantly increase awareness of our charitable status and purpose. We will also amplify the knowledge and insights of our traders to positively influence the relationships shoppers and people in our local community have with the Market and its food. Our aim is to have a strong voice that is heard and trusted on a local, national and, eventually, world stage.

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VOICE

COMMITMENTS By 2030, we will: — Establish awareness of our charitable status and be respected for our contributions to the local community.

— Create a strong, coherent set of positions and messages on the topics most relevant to us, and a framework for communicating these.

— Build and enhance strategic partnerships that increase our direct engagement in the community.

— Build a community of traders and food experts who support our organisational purpose by sharing their knowledge and opinions and advocating on our behalf.

— Build our reputation for knowledge sharing and advocacy at a local and national level.

KEY INITIATIVES TO UNDERTAKE — Demonstrate purpose and charitable status, reporting on the difference we make.

— Create a framework to share the specialist knowledge of our traders with customers, partners and the local community.

— Review and develop strategic partnerships and relationships.

— As technologies change, regularly evaluate communication platforms and activations for relevance.

— Understand the appetite for broadening our existing educational initiatives, and assess their reach and relevance against our organisational purpose and strategy.

— Seek funding and relevant partnerships to deliver other forms of practical, interactive food education.

— Build a Borough Market community scheme which opens avenues for more direct interaction with the most engaged members of our community.

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Sustainability “HOW DO WE BUILD SUSTAINABILITY INTO BOROUGH MARKET’S STRATEGY? SHARE THE JOURNEY, PROVIDE EVIDENCE AND BE HONEST.” Trewin Restorick, Sizzle

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SUSTAINABILITY CONTEXT There is a close relationship between being charitable, responsible and sustainable. As a responsible charity. Borough Market needs to do the right thing, acting locally but thinking globally. We want to be part of the solution when it comes to building a more sustainable future, not part of the problem.

Sustainability – including environmental, social and economic sustainability – is a vast and complex area, with many relevant touchpoints for Borough Market. The world is facing a crunch in resources and a social crisis. In the words of the UN, we are heading into “code red” for humanity. Climate change is rampant, and food production is one of the most significant contributors. According to Slow Food, of the world’s food production, a third is wasted – enough to feed the world’s hungry four times over. In the UK, millions of people are worried about how they will pay for their food and energy bills amid a growing cost of living crisis.

Two of the most important ways that Borough Market can benefit the public are to minimise its own footprint on the world and act as an amplifier for sustainable approaches to food production and retail.

Some of this will stem from the Trust’s own approach to, for example, waste disposal, power use and pay.

In many respects, the Market has been a pioneer in this sphere, reducing plastic waste by introducing water fountains and cornstarch bags, ensuring that no waste is sent to landfill, partnering with the Plan Zheroes charity to redistribute surplus food to vulnerable people in our community, and registering Borough Market as a Living Wage employer. There is, however, much more that can be done.

The Market’s leadership in this sphere also depends upon the methods used by our individual traders and tenants to produce, source and sell food. Our Food Policy explores how issues of environmental and economic sustainability relate to the food sold here – food production, packaging, procurement, supply chains, environmental impact, the economic and social welfare of our traders, and more. The formalising of detailed food standards for each category of trader, a process that marks the next stage of the Food Policy’s implementation, will go a long way towards pinning down how our traders’ approaches differ from those of the industrialised food system.

Because of the complexity of sustainability, in order to make consistent efforts from a place of deep understanding we need to explore its many interwoven – and occasionally contradictory – elements in far greater depth. We must also assess how our approach fits with the UK government’s commitment to net zero by 2050, and the Mayor’s London Environment Strategy, which addresses the need for a greener and cleaner city. Importantly, this is not a journey we can go on alone. Our traders, tenants, suppliers and partners need to get to a similar level of understanding and work together to make a difference.

So that our impact on sustainability extends as far as possible, we need to not only be making changes at a local level but ensuring that our initiatives and standards – and the important sustainability issues they seek to address – are clearly communicated to the wider world.

OUR SUSTAINABILITY AMBITION is to be a champion for environmentally and socially sustainable modes of food production, employment and trade, while making our own estate an example of good practice. To do this, we must first develop a clear understanding of what sustainability means for Borough Market, bring everyone to the same level of knowledge, and make that understanding central to all decision making.

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SUSTAINABILITY

COMMITMENTS By 2030, we will: — Have a clear sustainability policy and framework in place that our traders, customers, suppliers and teams understand and support.

— Align with broader government targets set by the London Environment Strategy and the government’s net zero plans in relevant areas such as air quality, zero waste and the low carbon circular economy.

— Use respected industry-wide, third-party accreditation to visibly demonstrate our commitment to sustainability.

— Operate innovative schemes that help set the standard for markets in the UK, relating to, for example, packaging, waste disposal, deliveries, storage and energy use.

KEY INITIATIVES TO UNDERTAKE — Establish what sustainability means within the Borough Market context — Conduct a sustainability audit to assess the current state of play – carbon efficiency of buildings, air quality, packaging etc.

— Based on the Food Policy, create clear sustainability standards for each trader category to meet, and systems for supporting traders to exceed these standards.

— Develop strategic partnerships that enable us to access relevant expertise in science, technology and innovation.

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EDI “IT IS NOT YOUR ROLE TO CHANGE EVERY BIT OF THE WORLD, BUT YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR BIT OF THE WORLD.” Andrew Pakes, Stonewall

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EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION (EDI) CONTEXT EDI is more than just the law. It is a commitment to the public. Organisations have both a legal and moral responsibility to ensure everyone has equal opportunities, representation and access by removing any barriers that stand in the way. In recent years, EDI thinking has become integral to how organisations operate. For good organisations it is no longer an add-on, but part of the DNA. At Borough Market, we have a duty to reflect our locality and the people who live locally to us. We are their market first. Yet we have complex challenges and contradictions to navigate. High-quality food, produced in a sustainable way, comes at a price that is beyond the means of many people in a borough where, according to Trust for London, 43% of children are born into poverty. This is particularly true at a time of continuing pressure on household costs. We are perceived by many as a market of privilege in an area of deep deprivation. Reducing our food standards would go against our values, and while there are steps we can take to make food more accessible, the sale of food alone will not help us attract or engage the local community.

Among our most powerful tools for engaging with our community in recent years have been our programmes with School Food Matters and Southwark Young Entrepreneurs, which have given young people at nearby schools a greater sense of connection with the Market. By exploring social and educational opportunities for those in older generations, including events, partnerships with local community groups, and training, development and apprenticeship programmes, we would hope to foster similar bonds with a broader cohort of the local population.

Across the board, we can also do more to ensure the Market reflects the diversity of the vibrant, multicultural community of Southwark where some 49% of residents are from Black and mixed ethnic backgrounds. Our trader mix currenty offers plenty of diversity in age, gender and nationality, but does not fully reflect the global nature of London and the ethnic diversity of the local community. Our food offering – particularly produce – is also not currently as diverse as our location should demand, with a significant emphasis on Western European cuisines and less representation from Africa, Asia and the Americas. More could be done to seek out and nurture businesses whose ownership, staffing and food offering add greater diversity to this mix and widen the appeal of the Market.

Taken as a whole, our own staff teams are highly diverse, but we recognise that this diversity does not extend to our senior management team and Board of Trustees. For EDI to become embedded within our organisation, this needs to change. This year, we have recruited a new trustee through the Black on Board programme, a pilot joint initiative between Southwark Council and Olmec, which supports people from across all minority ethnic backgrounds into governance. We have also become recruitment ambassadors for a Better Bankside initiative that seeks to remove unconscious bias from the interview process. These are steps in the right direction, but we know there is still much more we need to do.

We also need to address issues with the physical accessibility of our site, whose uneven paving, occasional overcrowding and limited space make the Market difficult for some members of our community to safely and comfortably navigate. Improving accessibility will be a key part of our whole-site planning (see Place section).

OUR EDI AMBITION is for the Market and the Trust to fully reflect and represent the vibrant, multicultural central London locality of which we are a part, and to be accessible and welcoming to all. We need to make EDI part of our thinking in every aspect of our work, to ensure that the diversity of our community is reflected across everything we do and everyone we work and partner with.

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EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION (EDI)

COMMITMENTS By 2030, we will: — Ensure EDI is front of mind for everything we do – the people we hire, the food we sell, the enterprises we support and the customers we attract.

— Put our locality and local community first, ensuring our food, site and voice reflect their needs and aspirations.

— Demonstrate active allyship, transforming the lives of people in our local community and beyond through apprenticeships, training and development, and more.

— Have a Board and senior management team whose makeup better reflects the diversity of London.

KEY INITIATIVES TO UNDERTAKE — Define, publish and implement an EDI policy.

— Conduct an EDI audit to identify gaps and set KPIs to deliver tangible change.

— Support traders to increase diversity within their own businesses.

— Develop policies and procedures to remove systemic bias, eliminate discrimination, create physiological and psychological safety and improve lives.

— Engage with our local community to better understand their needs and ensure we contribute to improving people’s lives the best we can.

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FINANCE, PEOPLE, DIGITAL & GOVERNANCE CONTEXT There are several fundamental operational functions that need to be performed at a high level if we are to effectively deliver the strategic pillars and commitments we have set out in this strategy. While our approaches to finance, people, digital and governance are not immediately visible to most people, they inform almost everything we do. In the coming years, it is important that these functions develop in a way that meets the needs of our stakeholders, responds to changes to regulation, infrastructure and technology, and reflects the values of the Trust.

Recent years have been dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic and a cost of living crisis, which have understandably had a negative impact on the Trust’s finances. We need to strike a balance between managing the cost of running the Market with the need to recover from recent financial pressures. To ensure Borough Market has a secure and sustainable financial position, we will be taking a longer-term view of investment towards 2030. This will include reviewing access to public funds and – for the first time – exploring options for fundraising to support major standalone projects that will bring identifiable benefits to our stakeholders in line with this strategy.

As we chart a way forward, we remain acutely aware that our traders and staff have been and continue to be deeply affected by economic circumstances beyond their control. We will be paying close attention to how we support our people and develop our organisational culture so that our charity is a great place to work and a warm, vibrant and welcoming place for traders and visitors. We need to not only nurture our existing people but also attract the right new talent to our team. To these ends, we have already recruited a Head of People, agreed a set of team values and a Dignity at Work charter, and refined our processes for recruitment, goal setting and annual reviews.

We will also ensure that all formal processes employed by the Trust are transparent, consistent and well understood. This needs to be true not just for our recruitment and management of staff, but also our dealings with other stakeholders. In particular, existing traders and potential new traders need to be confident that our management of the estate and our application processes for stalls, stands and properties are entirely fair and open, without favour to anyone.

Our working practices will be supported by the evolution of our digital systems and IT, with the aim of streamlining and simplifying our work and helping us to be more efficient. Any investments we make in technology will be designed to enhance our day-to-day activities and the modern operation we run, without detracting from the physical experience of Borough Market or the charm of its historic characteristics.

In recent years, following a thorough Governance Review, some important changes have been made to the way the Board of Trustees provides strategic direction, oversight and challenge to the Market’s executive team. Over the period covered by this strategy, it is important that those structures and processes be kept under close review and adapted where necessary to reflect changes both within the Market and to the wider regulatory environment. It is also vital that we attract trustees with the right skills and experience and continue to diversify the Board to better reflect our community.

To best support the Board’s activitives, a Head of Governance has been recruited to the Market’s leadership team, and the Trust has made a committment to adopt the Charity Governance Code, which is endorsed by the Charity Commission. This code provides practical tools to help charities and their trustees develop high standards of governance and regularly assess their performance against those standards.

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“WE NEED TO TELL A STORY ABOUT OUR RICH PAST, VIBRANT PRESENT AND EXCITING FUTURE.”

35. 2030 STRATEGY

PART FOUR: APPENDICES 1. RISK MANAGEMENT

37

2. CONTRIBUTORS

38

3. STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION

39

4. ENDORSEMENTS

40

5. CUSTOMER PROFILES

41

6. SWOT ANALYSIS

42

7. PESTLE ANALYSIS

44

8. PURPOSE DEVELOPMENT

46

9. REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

48

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1. RISK MANAGEMENT MEASURES TO MANAGE RISK The seven-year timing for the delivery of the strategy may be subject to delays due to unforeseen circumstances, including a risk of troubleshooting from the aftermath of the pandemic. Where deadlines do slip/change, stakeholders will be notified, along with the reasons for delays.

An annual review of the 2030 Strategy will ensure that it remains relevant in a changing world.

Any risks arising will be managed through our business-as-usual risk management processes and our corporate risk register.

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2. CONTRIBUTORS OUR CONTRIBUTORS The creation of this strategy would not have been possible without the input of our expert contributors. Foremost among these has been Mallika Basu (pictured right), a food writer and commentator with two published cookbooks. Mallika runs a consultancy that joins the dots between strategy, communications, culture and diversity, with a particular focus on food, drink and hospitality. She has been heavily involved since the start of the 2030 Strategy process, facilitating our workshops and conferences, creating the initial drafts of the strategy, and seeking and incorporating feedback through numerous review sessions.

We are extremely thankful, too, to the many experts who contributed their insights and feedback and spoke at the various workshops and conferences that preceded the drafting of the strategy: Nilesha Chauvet, Good Agency Nilesha is managing director of Good Agency, a creative communications agency that works with charities to maximise their impact by developing organisational purpose strategy, fundraising or brand campaigns, engaging new supporters or creating sustainable income generation.

Trewin Restorick, Sizzle Trewin is founder and CEO of Sizzle, an agency that collaborates with businesses and organisations to reimagine the way products and services are delivered, to radically reduce environmental impact while being affordable, high quality and financially viable.

Juliane Caillouette Noble, Sustainable Restaurant Association Juliane is CEO of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, which works with hospitality businesses, industry bodies, campaign groups and suppliers throughout the food service sector to define sustainability, assess behaviour, measure action and celebrates progress.

Patrick Holden, Sustainable Food Trust Patrick is founding director of the Sustainable Food Trust, which works to accelerate the transition to more sustainable food and farming systems through communication, education and thought leadership. He is also a dairy farmer – his Hafod cheese is sold at Neal’s Yard Dairy.

Jon Alexander & Irenie Ekkeshis, New Citizenship Project Jon and Irenie are co-founders of New Citizenship

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Project, a strategy and innovation agency that aims to catalyse a shift to a more participatory society, based on citizens rather than consumers, by providing bespoke consultancy services and convening collaborative projects.

Rhiannon Goddard, Historic Royal Palaces Rhiannon is head of public engagement projects and business management at Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that oversees the Tower of London, Hampton Court, Banqueting House, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace and Hillsborough Castle.

Paul Lincoln, Landscape Institute Paul is editor of Landscape, the journal of the Landscape Institute. The LI is the chartered body for the landscape profession, which includes landscape scientists, landscape planners, landscape architects, landscape managers and urban designers.

Andrew Pakes, Stonewall Andrew is deputy general secretary at the Prospect union and a trustee of Stonewall, a charity that campaigns to drive positive change in public attitudes and public policy relating to LGBTQ+ people and create inclusive workplaces for employees and students.

Prof Patrick Vernon, Olmec Patrick is an associate of Olmec, a BME-led race organisation that champions race equality and provides innovative training programmes for individuals, housing associations, local authorities, social enterprises and the private sector.

3. STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION DATE (2022)

STAKEHOLDER GROUP

18 March 7 April 12 April 9 May 10 June 5 July` 26 July 28 July 2 August 2 August 2 August 3 August 3 August 5 August 5 August 24 August 26 August 5 September 7 September 12 September 13 September 6, 7, 13 September 16 September

Trustees & senior management team (1) Borough Market team (1) Borough Market team (2) Traders, trustees & Borough Market team (at Trader Conference) Trustees & senior management team (2) Trustees & senior management team (3) Borough Market environs London Bridge stakeholders Borough Market traders (1) Borough Market comms team & consultants Peer group Living Bankside Academy Residents group Borough Market traders (2) United St Saviour’s Southwark Cathedral (1) One Southwark Better Bankside Southwark Cathedral (2) Southwark Council Charities: School Food Matters, Southwark Young Entrepreneurs, Plan Zheroes Customers (interviewed by Folk Brand Research & Consultancy) Food industry experts & influencers: Charlie Gent, Paula McIntyre, Jackson Mclarty, Jenny Chandler, Ed Smith, Christabel Cairns, Matthew Bunch, Jason Hartley, Claire Ford Good Sixty

30 September

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4. ENDORSEMENTS ENDORSEMENTS FROM PARTICIPANTS “Having evolved through the past 1,000 years, we are now entering a new chapter. It is our duty to ensure our Market’s future is both sustainable and profitable. A Market we are proud to hand to future generations. This forward-looking strategy will require a collaborative approach from every business within the Borough family. We have no doubt it will come with challenges, but by continuing to work together in partnership, we have every opportunity to create a pioneering establishment that will be admired and respected for years to come.”

The Borough Market Trader Representatives “Jane and her team have done an excellent job in articulating their vision for Borough Market going forward. This includes ensuring that the market develops its respected role in the community as well as preserving and communicating its heritage. Engaging with partners and key stakeholders is an important part of creating a strategy, so I was pleased to be invited to participate in the process.”

Chris Wilkie, co-founder and chair, Plan Zheroes “That Borough Market built in a period of consultation with stakeholders in order to fine tune the strategy demonstrates commitment to their community and a collaborative spirit, which we at Better Bankside welcome and fully support. Both the feedback sessions with the Better Bankside team and the Borough Market environs group were fruitful discussions, with the market team inviting us to act as critical friends, open and listening to suggestions. We commented that one of Borough Market’s unique and special characteristics was its role as a place of connection, exchange and real-life experience, even more important at a time where digitisation, social exclusion and loneliness impact communities.

Through the process we were able to jointly identify a number of opportunities to partner on projects proving it to be a valuable and mutually beneficial stakeholder engagement exercise.”

Nicole Gordon, CEO, Better Bankside “I was very happy to be able to give my very small bit of input. I think we were all thinking along the same lines – that the purpose really needs to emphasise the feeling of community as well as market. It is obviously such a huge challenge trying to make Borough Market more accessible and relevant to the local community of Southwark while still keeping the sustainability and quality of food at the core, but it’s obviously absolutely vital too.”

Jenny Chandler, chef and educator “It was a privilege to be included in the review of the Borough Market strategy. This framework is a great seed that, when developed, committed to and measured, will provide a transparent, inclusive and guiding roadmap for the next phase of the Market’s growth and success.”

Jason Hartley, chef and brand consultant “I found Borough Market’s draft strategy document and feedback session very thought provoking.

Clearly the work behind the scenes has been thorough and considered. Overall, the strategy feels appropriately ambitious yet realistic. The concentration on ‘local’ community, and representing London’s populous through better diversity, is important and worthwhile. My main concern is how the written words are translated into reality, and how traders and businesses buy in to ambitions relating to quality.”

Ed Smith, chef and food writer “Since 2012, Borough Market has been working in partnership with School Food Matters on the awardwinning Young Marketeers programme. The two charities share a mission to teach children about the joys of growing, cooking and sharing good food for their health and happiness. Borough’s commitment to working with community partners remains central to its 2030 strategy. The trustees recognise that the Market is both an iconic destination for food-lovers and a valuable resource for local schools and families.”

Stephanie Slater, School Food Matters

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5. CUSTOMER PROFILES AUDIENCE SEGMENTATION The existing audience segmentation study revealed seven customer profiles for Borough Market, with a focus on Conscious Consumers, Accustomed Shoppers, Day Trippers and Experience Seekers. We have conducted qualitative research with a representative set of consumers from each of these four key groups to test our strategy and organisational purpose.

DAY TRIPPERS

CONSCIOUS CONSUMERS

Live in London or the home counties, come to Borough as part of a day out, probably on a Friday or Saturday. Will have lunch and coffee, then browse the stalls for some hardy and easily transportable produce to take home. Fully engage with the Market, but only for a few hours and perhaps only once a year. Work in Southwark or across the bridge in the City. Come to the Market for a takeaway lunch on a fairly regular basis, because it’s better than what’s available in high street chains. Might occasionally pick up the odd bit of produce while here, but that isn’t the primary motivation for coming.

Food obsessives who prepare every meal from scratch with the best ingredients they can find and have an acute understanding of the importance of provenance and sustainability. Might well have a professional connection to food, or aspire to having one, but at the very least food is central to their interests and identity. Borough probably isn’t the sole source of their food – they also have favourite independent shops and possibly a local farmers’ market – but definitely one of the main ones, and they avoid supermarkets as much as possible.

Knowledgeable and confident cooks, quite comfortable coming to the Market without a fixed plan, instead seeking inspiration from the seasonal produce or their conversations with traders. They may not be particularly well off, but quality food is one of their biggest outgoings, and they are interested in getting value from every ingredient and seeking out glut-based bargains.

EXPERIENCE SEEKERS

Gen Y (1980s–mid-1990s to early 2000s), and Gen Z (mid-to-late 1990s to early 2010s). Keen experience seekers, and that includes the experience of shopping at a market and the experience of cooking and sharing food. Cooking with, and for, friends is an essential part of their social life.

Photographing it and talking about it on social media is all part of the fun. Not particularly minted, so use the supermarket for everyday consumption.

Come to the Market every few weeks, but buy everything they need for a meal when they do, and really enjoy the process. Engaged with the arguments around sustainability and ethics – plenty of them pescatarians, vegetarians or vegans.

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ACCUSTOMED SHOPPERS

A small but important constituency of regular shoppers who have been visiting the Market for years and have developed close relationships with traders. Older, based within easy reach, living alone or as a couple, so can buy almost everything they need here without the logistics of transporting it being a problem. Come at least once a week. The Market has a practical function for them, but also an emotional connection. Likely to come during the week, or early on Saturday morning. Very unlikely to come on Saturday afternoon. Might well think that the Market was better 10 years ago, before it got so famous.

6. SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS — Strong heritage.

— A thriving community of traders across more than 100 stalls, stands, restaurants, bars and shops.

— Global brand.

— Leader and pioneer in many respects (for example, first food market to reduce plastic bottle waste by installing drinking water fountains and replace most plastic bags with a fully biodegradable alternative).

— A hub for local community and tourists.

— Unique atmosphere and experience.

— New Food Policy that defines the principles that should underpin Borough Market food.

— Reputation for high-quality food.

— A permanent market, subsidised by investment properties.

— Strong partnerships in place with tangible benefits in the local community and beyond, for example, Plan Zheroes, School Food Matters, Southwark Young Entrepreneurs.

— Many stories to tell and high-profile platforms from which to tell them.

— Financial recovery forecast with sensible levels of surplus and the potential for fundraising.

WEAKNESSES — Lack of wide awareness of charitable status.

— A historic charitable objective that lacks clarity.

— No defined organisational purpose.

— Perceived disparity between elitist offer and location in an underprivileged borough.

— Benefit of Borough Market to the local community beyond shopping not established.

— Lack of diversity and inclusion across food offer (variety and affordability), senior leadership, accessibility/usage of site, and traders.

— Modern operation on a heritage site, which impacts operations and customer experience.

— Complex sustainability challenges with no framework or broad understanding in place, piecemeal approaches to date.

— Broad customer profile set and limited intelligence on the visitor experience.

— No clear estate boundaries and rapid development in the vicinity, which dilutes the Borough Market experience.

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SWOT ANALYSIS

OPPORTUNITIES — Be more proactive, less passive.

— Establish hierarchy of priorities.

— Align decisions about the food offer with the Food Policy.

— Leverage existing strategic partnerships / allies.

— Build new strategic partnerships.

— Incorporate London’s urban and peri-urban horticulture projects.

— Use LM3 (Local Multiplier 3) to measure how spending generates local economic impact and community benefit.

— Incorporate educational initiatives to address food, sustainability and diversity.

— Maintain and grow relationships with neighbouring businesses.

— Amplify the benefits of Borough Market – make it relevant both locally and globally.

— Be part of a solution in a food landscape that is fraught with issues.

THREATS — Environmental challenges to our site.

— Likelihood of price increases and the cost of living crisis.

— More complex sourcing and competing priorities.

— The shape of post-Covid recovery and the risk of further pandemic disruption.

— Overcrowding and crowd control, and the dangers they present.

— High-risk location in central London.

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7. PESTLE ANALYSIS POLITICAL — Political uncertainty, with the next UK general election scheduled before 2 May 2024.

— Continuing geopolitical and economic uncertainty caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

— The evolving impact of Brexit on imports, exports and employment.

— Government plans for trade deals, farming subsidies, animal welfare and climate.

— Strategic priorities of local authority and the Mayor’s office.

— Strategic priorities of the local BIDs: Better Bankside and Team London Bridge.

ECONOMIC — Increase in cost of food and packaging commodities, as well as manufacturing and labour costs which influence the affordability of food.

— Ongoing cost of living crisis translating to reviews of discretionary spend and shopping habits.

— Rising costs and accumulated debt pushing more people into poverty.

— High inflation and low consumer confidence.

— Changing working patterns, particularly their potential impact on central London.

— Wider residential, office and medical development plans in the London Bridge area.

— Changes to the demographics of central London.

— Incidence of deprivation, particularly in Southwark, which is ranked as the 41st most deprived borough out of the 326 local authorities in England, with 43% child poverty rate, and has high rates of unemployment, childhood obesity, social isolation and mental health problems.

— The establishment and direction of travel of other urban markets, nationally and internationally.

SOCIOLOGICAL — A changed world with big movements like Black Lives Matter, then a pandemic, now war.

— People are looking at charities and businesses to solve societal problems.

— All stakeholders – consumers, employees, investors, communities – hold organisations accountable for morally and socially conscious behaviour and actively disengage if you don’t align with stated values.

— Purpose is now a given – no longer a marketing luxury.

— Radical transparency is crucial for reputation management.

— Consumerist society focused on price.

— Lack of broad understanding about the cost of cheap food.

— Changes in consumer behaviour, particularly grocery shopping, e-commerce and personalisation.

— Changing attitudes to health, animal welfare, climate responsibility, cooking.

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PESTLE ANALYSIS

TECHNOLOGICAL — Digital evolution is transforming the way we work, live and interact.

— New and innovative technology enhances customer experience, for example, QR codes, virtual reality, augmented reality, metaverse.

— Boost to online grocery shopping and food delivery, driven by Covid, with a McKinsey survey reporting customers plan to shop more online in advanced online markets such as the UK (a net intent of +5 per cent).

LEGAL — The Charities Bill has passed into law as the Charities Act 2022 and aims to enable and empower trustees, and “support the voluntary sector by reducing unnecessary bureaucracy”.

ENVIRONMENTAL — Globally, the negative environmental impact of industrialised food production is vast and growing.

— Potential for further variants of Covid.

— Declaration of climate emergency needs to be considered when putting sustainable initiatives into practice.

— A food system with challenges across food poverty, unhealthy consumption, economic inequality and environmental sustainability.

— Throughout the developed world, diseases linked to diets dominated by heavily processed, highly calorific foods are on the rise. The impacts of this obesity epidemic are not evenly distributed, with poor diet being both a symptom of economic inequality and a factor in its growth.

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8. PURPOSE DEVELOPMENT APPROACH One recommendation of our governance review was that the board focuses on what our stated charitable objective means in practice. We know that the market’s benefits should be accrued by a broad constituency of people, but how do we define the ‘public’. What are the outcomes that the charity should be seeking to achieve? How should the organisation apply its limited resources to maximise those outcomes?

We, therefore, started our discussions by seeking to clarify and build on our charitable objective to define a more specific organisational purpose for planning and implementation. Our thinking was guided by our expert guest speaker Nilesha Chauvet, the MD of GOOD Agency, who said that a great purpose statement should answer the following questions:

“FOR COMMUNITY, THE LOVE OF FOOD AND A BETTER TOMORROW.” Purpose statement

— Why do we exist?

— What problem are we solving?

— What national conversation are we part of?

Options for the purpose were developed and shared with stakeholders for their feedback leading to the agreed version.

Before alighting on the preferred option, the following alternatives were also considered: — “A market for the love of food and a better tomorrow” — “A marketplace to connect people and food for a better world” — “A market for quality food and inspiring ideas for a better tomorrow” — “A marketplace for quality food, inspiring knowledge and unique experiences for a better tomorrow” — “A place for people to connect through a love of quality food, community and a better tomorrow.”

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PURPOSE DEVELOPMENT

GOOD AGENCY’S PURPOSE WATCHOUTS Nilesha also outlined some watchouts to avoid:

Often inauthentic and has a high risk of being perceived as bandwagon jumping

Expected of all responsible businesses, so offers little value creation

Societal needs Mass movements

CSR / ESG / BCorp*

PURPOSE

Audience needs

Enhanced consumer offer

Audience capabilities

Tactical and lacks meaning

* Corporate social responsibility (CSR) / Environmental, social and governance (ESG) / B Corporation (BCorps): certification for companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance

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9. REFERENCE DOCUMENTS DATE (2022)

DOCUMENT

18th March 18th March 7th & 12th Apri 9th May 5th July

Strategy away day briefing Strategy away day schedule Team workshop packs Trader conference briefing Board paper with: a) Appendix purpose statement paper b) Strategy summary slide pack Board paper with: a) Strategy summary slide pack 1.6

18th August

FURTHER READING Borough Market Food Policy Read now The Mayor’s Zero Carbon London strategy Read now The National Food Strategy Read now The London Food Strategy Read now Better Bankside summary of local development plans Read now Plans for the Low Line development Read now Port of London Authority public engagement research Read now University of Leeds research project: Understanding and Enhancing the Community Value of Traditional Retail Markets in UK Cities Read now Hubbub research on public interest in climate change Read now

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