11/10/2026
Gosport’s bespoke markets — our response
Our intention is to clarify our position, send our open letter to Gosport councillors and then bring this matter to a close. We hope Gosport Borough Council can then move forward with suitable arrangements for the markets from 2027, supporting traders and the wider community.
When we published our statement in July, we believed that would be the end of the matter. We left these markets around three months ago and intended to move on quietly and amicably. However, Councillor Lesley Meenaghan’s recent public comments have brought our involvement back into discussion, and we feel we need to defend our reputation and clarify the facts.
We want Gosport’s markets to succeed. Supporting traders and helping them do well was central to our work and why we advocated for the markets. We also offered to assist with the transition between our departure and whatever arrangements would follow, but this offer was not taken up.
We would prefer to focus on moving forward. Nevertheless, the recent post does not provide the full facts, figures or circumstances surrounding our departure. We therefore set out our response below.
1. What did the Council pay us?
The Council’s 2025–26 budget covered eight markets, including the light switch-on event. The actual Council payment was £76,807.46. This funded staging, sound, security, entertainment, insurance, administration and staff time across the programme. It was business income used to deliver the events, not personal take-home pay.
Our proposed extension was £71,886.58, below the £79,730 budget allocation quoted in the Council’s September report.
The graphic accompanying this post shows a simplified breakdown of our proposed extension budget, based on a “perfect world” scenario in which anticipated income is achieved and costs remain as budgeted. In practice, events rarely run exactly to plan. Unexpected bills, additional fees, unforeseen circumstances and lower trader numbers can increase costs or reduce pitch income, meaning the amount actually remaining for the three organisers would be lower than shown.
Under this scenario, after delivery costs, the estimated £5,000 capital expenditure and maintenance cost allowance, and Corporation Tax at 19%, £34,967.70 remains for all three organisers’ other work combined. Split equally, that is approximately £11,656 each for the full 11-month contract, before personal taxes.
The estimated £5,000 annual allowance covers maintenance and capital purchases we funded to improve the events. Examples include white picket fencing around the Christmas tree for last year’s switch-on, an electrical distribution board to make power available to more traders, and robust cable covers that could withstand lorries driving over them, helping protect cables and keep the event safe. These investments reduced the money available to the organisers.
Retaining pitch income was essential to making the contract financially viable for our business.
The amount remaining for the three organisers’ other work combined is below the proposed £40,000–£45,000 annual salary for one in-house organiser. Adding approximately 20% for employer National Insurance, pension contributions and other employment costs brings the Council’s total employment cost to around £48,000–£54,000. These figures cover different periods and are calculated differently, but they show why the headline contract payment should not be mistaken for our earnings.
Events are expensive to put on. Behind the stalls and entertainment are staging, sound, security, insurance, power, equipment, transport and months of preparation — many costs that visitors never see.
These figures are a simplified illustration of the proposed extension budget. A full breakdown of the proposed extension costs will be included in our open letter to Gosport councillors.
2. Did we also receive pitch fees?
Yes. Our contract allowed us to retain these, and actual pitch income for 2025–26 was £11,990.
The standard general-trader pitch was £35, with different food and Christmas rates and discounts for regular bookings. Fifty stalls did not mean fifty paying traders: we provided 44 free community and charity pitches throughout the year.
We also collected £390 from indoor tables, all of which was donated to Your Space.
3. Did we run the regular Tuesday and Saturday markets?
No. These were outside our second contract and had a separate market manager, whose annual salary was described at the September Council meeting as £12,000. We ran the bespoke markets.
4. Did we pay pitch fees back to the Council?
Our contract allowed us to keep bespoke-market pitch income. The regular Tuesday and Saturday markets operated under separate arrangements. The two should not be confused.
5. Were we simply offered the final three markets and turned them down?
That does not reflect the full situation.
On 2 July, seven months after we initially began discussions about the extension, we were told our contract extension could no longer proceed because of procurement requirements and limits. The proposed alternative was a temporary arrangement for July, followed by an open tender for August, October and Christmas.
To continue, we would have needed to compete for a new contract with substantially different terms. These included paying all pitch income to the Council, losing trader parking permits and payment arrangements that would put additional pressure on our cash flow.
We declined the July arrangement and decided the new tender was not suitable for our business. By that point, trust between ourselves and the Council had broken down. The reasons for this will be fully explained in our open letter.
6. What about the Council hiring its own organiser?
We welcome investment in Gosport’s markets and events. However, the proposed £40,000–£45,000 salary, plus approximately 20% in employment costs, covers the organiser’s role. Equipment, entertainment, security, additional staff and other event costs still need to be funded.
Our question is: how will the complete programme be delivered within the proposed budget?
We are finalising an open letter setting out the supporting detail and the questions we recommend are asked about the new arrangements. This will be sent to councillors in the coming week and will be available to the public through their local councillor.
Our intention is to put our account on record, bring this matter to a close and move forward. We wish the traders and everyone involved in the future of Gosport’s markets every success.
