Specialists assessing why £8m market is struggling
BBCRetail specialists have been called in to find out why a revamped market is struggling to retain traders and attract customers.
The Cornhill Market in Lincoln opened following an £8m refit in May 2024, having originally been a traditional market.
City of Lincoln Council has asked market and food hall specialists Next Phase to come up with a business plan to boost trade, as detailed in a report ahead of a meeting with council leaders in October.
The report said "many positives" about the new market had been "largely overshadowed" by challenges that meant the market was "not yet operating as originally intended".
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, this includes a failure to meet income targets, not maintaining occupancy levels from paying businesses and "consequential operational issues", including some difficulties with the building itself.
"This has inevitably meant that management and staff time has been focused on dealing with a myriad of immediate operational issues at the expense of further developing and implementing a proactive business plan," the report concludes.
The council has insisted it is working hard to improve it and attract new tenants.
In December 2025, it was reported the market was losing £40,000 a month.
Councillor Joshua Wells, who is responsible for economic growth, last year said challenging conditions meant the market "wasn't where we want it to be".
"We operate in difficult conditions. Since the business case was first put in, there have been economic shocks, and the ongoing effect of the pandemic, which has changed shopping habits," he said.
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