EU rules ban market traders in Nottingham selling to customers

A market is struggling to find tenants because the EU says they aren't allowed to have tills or sell directly to customers.

The 46 unit Nottingham Creative Quarter was constructed in Sneinton Market at a total cost of £3.89m or £84,565 each (the average construction cost of a new house is £84k). Nottingham City Council spent £1.45m of their own money on the project with the remaining £2.44m coming from the taxpayer via the EU Regional Development Fund.

But the EURDF funding came with strings attached. The companies that move in to the units won't be allowed to have a till and whilst customers are allowed to come in and browse they won't actually be allowed to sell them anything. If they want to sell something to a customer they have to send them to another market trader in a different part of the market who is allowed to sell to members of the public.