Trading Information

The Traders
These are the firms or individuals who rent selling space on the floor of the Market and are tenants of the Corporation of London. The London Fish Merchant's Association is a body which represents the merchants trading interests, while Billingsgate Traders Ltd represents the interests of the tenants in their dealings with the Corporation and has representatives on the Market's statutory Consultative Advisory Committee. This Committee also includes representatives from the Corporation of London, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the Transport and General Workers' Union and the National Federation of Fishmongers.

The Market's cold store is leased to, and operated by, a subsidiary company of the Merchants' Association.

The Market complex also houses several firms who trade in goods and services ancillary to the fish trade; cooking oils, poultry, potatoes, catering supplies, trade utensils and a laundry.

A recent addition is a new distribution cold store centre built by a Merchant with assistance from an EU grant and the Corporation of London.

The Buyers
Fishmongers and fish-and-chip shop proprietors; delicatessens; publicans; restauranteurs; cafe owners; embassies; specialist fish suppliers; world renowned chefs; buyers from some of London's most famous department stores and from the country's greatest hotels-these are the people who comprise an essential part of any market, the buyers.

It is the demand created by these various buyers which stimulates the merchants to seek and offer new and improved supplies. Billingsgate is, by law, a "free and open" Market giving everyone the right to attend the Market during trading hours and to purchase fish from any merchant who is willing to serve them. Sales are by private treaty between the parties concerned and no auctioning of fish takes place in the Market.