Southport Market lost £127,546 in its fifth year, against a planned £102,000 profit, a council report says. Food sales fell 16% and drink sales 10%.
Southport Market made a loss of £127,546 in its fifth year of trading. Its business plan had expected a profit of £102,000. The figures are in a Sefton Council report to councillors on the Regeneration, Economy and Skills scrutiny committee, which meets tonight, Tuesday 3 November (Sefton Council report).
The council owns and runs the food and drink market on King Street, which opened in July 2021. The loss is before borrowing costs.
The quick answer
- Loss in year five: £127,546, against a planned profit of £102,000.
- Income: £291,480, against a target of £537,000.
- Food sales were down 16.12% on year four, and drink sales down 9.56%.
- Why, says the council: a hard year for hospitality, the 2025 works on Market Street and King Street, and no outdoor markets.
- What next: a new events bar, more outdoor seating on Market Street, an ordering app and a new events officer. The council says early year six trading is up on last year.
Where the money went
The report compares the year with the business plan. Income came in at £291,480, just over half the £537,000 target. Spending was £419,026 once the council took its share of the utility bill centrally, against a plan of £435,000. So costs were close to plan, and the gap is almost all income.
The traders pay the council a share of their takings rather than a fixed rent. The council says that gives start-ups breathing space, and it means the council’s income rises and falls with the stalls’ sales. Those sales fell:
| Year four to year five | Change |
|---|---|
| Food sales | down 16.12% |
| Drink sales | down 9.56% |
| Rents and recharges | £348,728 down to £266,656 |
| Paid events and room hire | £26,913 down to £24,823 |
Before the council’s central utility adjustment, the year’s spending was £453,957, down from £491,028 in year four. The market’s utility budget is £83,000; it actually spent £117,032, which the report calls an “unavoidable” overspend of £34,932. Traders pay for their own metered use. The council covers the landlord’s supply, and its share is now met centrally, as at other council-run buildings.
The report also notes that in year three the market made a profit of £15,000. It does not give the exact dates each trading year covers.
Why the council says it fell short
The report gives three reasons.
- The outdoor markets never came back. The business plan, written in 2020, counted on £156,000 a year from outdoor markets, based on what they made before Covid-19. The report says “resource and operational issues” stopped them restarting.
- The roadworks outside the door. Throughout 2025 the Les Transformations de Southport works dug up Market Street and King Street. The council calls the disruption “significant (and unavoidable)” and says it hit trading directly.
- A hard year for hospitality. The report cites rising wage costs, reduced business rates relief and households cutting back on eating out.
It adds that the market has “a substantial waiting list” of traders wanting a unit. It now runs seven hot food kitchens, one dessert unit and the main bar. Two small hire units have been turned into seating booths.
What happens next
With the Market Street works finished, the council says a new business plan is being written. It will look at how to use Market Street for outdoor markets and will revise the outdoor market budget. The improvements it lists for year six are:
- a new bar in the events space, the 200-capacity Extravaganza Room
- more outdoor seating on Market Street
- a new Southport Market website
- a dedicated events and sales officer
- a customer ordering app, to cut queues and raise spend per head
The report says early year six trading “is already showing growth” compared with the same period last year. It gives no figure for that.
It also names four businesses that have grown beyond their market units into outdoor and event trading: 600 Degrees, Pitamu, Lenny’s and Cake Corner.
The committee is asked only to note the report, so no decision is due tonight. The meeting starts at 6.30pm (meeting papers).
What it means for you
If you pay council tax in Sefton, the loss is the council’s to cover. The report does not say how, and it states that the report itself has no financial implications.
It lands in a tight week for the council’s books. A separate paper to Cabinet on Thursday 5 November forecasts a £9.782 million overspend across the council for 2026/27, as at the end of September. It says a recruitment freeze is in place until the end of the financial year, with exceptions only for critical posts approved by senior officers (Cabinet budget update). The market report’s plan to recruit an events and sales officer does not say whether that post has been approved as an exception.
If you use the market, the visible changes are the new seating on Market Street, the ordering app and more events. The market’s own site lists what is on at southportmarket.com, and our what’s on in Southport page carries the month’s events.
The 2025 works that the council blames for part of the drop are covered on our Southport roadworks and travel page.
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