The Sydenham market was set up to support local businesses and increase footfall to the area
A weekly night market in Sydenham could return next year after what the council said has been a hugely successful pilot this summer.
Sydenham Night Market, which operates every Friday from 5pm to 10pm, has reportedly generated up to £10,000 worth of revenue for the food traders collectively each week. The idea behind it was to support local businesses and increase footfall to the area.
Lewisham Council says the market, which began on July 17 and ends this Friday (September 18), has been more successful than it could have imagined. The market is located along a car-free space at Sydenham Station Approach and has seen parking spaces transformed to deliver public seating and space for 14 hot food traders.
The market is free to enter and each Friday, visitors can enjoy food and drink from local traders and vendors such as Beyroots and fusé.
Other food and drink featured at the market has included jerk chicken and rum cakes, along with authentic Afghan food and freshly made Turkish flatbreads.
The south of the borough had experienced declining footfall and night-time spend, so the council identified Sydenham as an opportunity to boost the local economy and “activate” the area in the evenings.
The council had an original target of welcoming 6,000 visitors to the market, but says the final figure is expected to be closer to 8,000 people – this figure has been calculated using hot food sales, so the total number of visitors across the entire summer market series could be even higher.
Cllr Shireen Asaw, Lewisham Council’s Cabinet Member for Business, Workers and Skills, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that some local businesses surrounding the market have potentially tripled their sales while it has been on.
Cllr Asaw added: “When I was speaking to residents when I visited, it was very clear that they felt like they really needed something like this.
“I remember speaking to someone and he was just like, ‘I’ve been waiting for something like this to show up here, it seems like everyone else has a market’.”
Cllr Asaw added: “Sydenham is great. Sydenham is beautiful. I’m from Lewisham and I think Sydenham is just so quaint and I love going there.
“But that’s one thing that was kind of lacking was that night-time economy to draw people in for the evening – I think that aspect of [the night market] has been quite successful.”
Kenrick’s Wine Merchant and Wine Bar is one of the existing businesses at Station Approach which has reported their sales tripling on Friday evenings as a result of the market.
The wine shop says people have visited from Brockley, Crystal Palace and even further away, and said it has been “amazing” to see the community response and people “sitting together, chatting and laughing with people they didn’t know before”.
The council has said the pilot at Sydenham has demonstrated “huge potential” for community and business use of pedestrianised spaces in town centres.
Throughout the pilot, the council’s Business, Engagement and Partnerships team has been collating weekly data from each market, and will consult members, stakeholders and the wider public to determine the future of the night market.
The council says it hopes the market will become a permanent fixture in Sydenham, but says it is “vital” to complete a thorough engagement from the pilot before planning future market events.
The market is operated by Food Market Street Company, the organisers behind markets in Catford, Lewisham and Beckenham Place Park.
Lewisham is one of 13 boroughs which secured funding from the Mayor of London’s £500,000 fund, which is designed to boost al fresco dining and support businesses to create a vibrant summer across the capital.
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