London’s Famous Smithfield Meat Market Is Closing For Good

The historic Smithfield meat market in London will be closing by 2028, as the City of London Corporation has announced. Plans to move the market to a new site in Dagenham were voted down due to high costs, leading to the decision to cease trading. The Corporation will be turning Smithfield into a mixed-use cultural development and Billingsgate fish market will likely become the site for new homes.

Smithfield, the UK's largest wholesale meat market, has been operating for at least 800 years and has seen a decline in meat consumption over the years. Billingsgate, the largest inland fish market in the UK, has also been facing challenges with declining fish consumption. Traders at both markets will be offered compensation and assistance in finding new premises as the markets prepare to close for good.