WIRRAL Council has rejected an application for a licence to operate a market out of a closed Marks and Spencer store.

The local authority’s Licensing Panel believed the proposed market would be “directly harmful” to Birkenhead Market and a “huge risk” to Birkenhead’s town centre.

The future of Birkenhead’s Marks and Spencer site has been up for debate after a market trader in the current Birkenhead Market, Alan Featherstone, put forward plans and applied for a licence for a market in the space. Traders were looking at going their own way following a controversial decision by Wirral Council to turn a former Argos unit on Princes Pavements into the market’s new location by 2026.

Earlier this year, Marks and Spencer said it was happy to let a new Birkenhead Market be run from the premises subject to terms and conditions being agreed. However in July, the retail giant said it was no longer able to move forward with any sub-lease related to a market which was later confirmed to the LDRS.

Mr Featherstone did not withdraw his plans despite the setback and the licence application came to council committee on October 11 where he was represented by his son Will. The licence was needed because of a policy approved in 2022 designed to protect the future of a council-operated Birkenhead Market.

The application was supported by members of the public as well as Birkenhead’s three ward councillors but faced opposition from the local authority’s interim director of regeneration Marcus Shaw. Will Featherstone argued that his plans wouldn’t compete with any council market and could bring more people into the town centre.

The Birkenhead Market Traders’ Association said Marks and Spencer was their preferred option and the former store would reportedly provide “space for all existing market tenants.” However, because traders would look to move into the market operated at Marks and Spencer, the panel felt this “would have a negative impact on Birkenhead Market and undermine the ability of the Council to protect Birkenhead Market as the principal market of the borough.”

A decision issued by the council said it would “create economic uncertainty for existing traders and would also have a serious impact on the significant investment in Birkenhead Market to which the Council had already made a commitment.” The panel, made up of Cllrs Stephen Bennett, Max Booth, Kieran Murphy, Brenda Hall, and Louise Luxon-Kewley, said they believed the proposed market “would be a direct threat to the existence of Birkenhead Market” that would lead to both being financially unstable in the long run.

During the meeting, Will Featherstone was questioned over the plans for a new market including its viability, impact on the existing Birkenhead Market and any future market run by the council, as well as its business plan. In his answers, Mr Featherstone said he said it was a bit of a “chicken and egg situation” where he argued he wasn’t able to move any business plans forward without a licence but couldn’t get a licence without a business plan.

He made reference to the need for 70% occupancy in a market run from the Marks and Spencer, plans for an astroturf facility built upstairs, the security, office, and managerial staff he would employ to run it, as well as positive comments market traders had made. However he said it was very much a concept with no costs provided or signed agreements in place.

In his final address, he said: “I wouldn’t be here hitting my head against the wall if I didn’t think it is going to work. Why would I waste my time,” adding: “The idea of Birkenhead Market, it’s not what it used to be so let’s do something to change it.”