Market Halls closes Essex site after less than six months
The Hall was the group’s first concept outside London and featured seating for 680 people, six kitchens, a coffee shop and pop-up area for food trucks.
Essex Live reports The Hall closed shortly before Christmas, with staff claiming low footfall meant they took as little as £10 on some days.
A spokesperson for Market Halls told BigHospitality: “It is with deep regret that we announce the closure of The Hall’s first and only outlet - The Hall, intu Lakeside.
“We were very excited about the promise of the expansion plans of intu Lakeside but due to a variety of reasons, including delays to the opening of other key tenants, we never saw the levels of footfall required to sustain a business of our nature."
The Hall opened last July as part of a £72m leisure extension of the shopping centre, which includes a Puttshack golf course.
Traders included BaoziInn and Fanny’s Kebab’s, who operate at Market Hall’s London sites, as well as Essex-based Fundi Pizza.
Market Halls is headed up by former property developed Andy Lewis-Pratt and restaurateur Simon Anderson.
It opened sites in Fulham and Victoria in 2018 followed by the UK’s largest food hall, on Oxford Street, in 2019.
The group is also understood to be opening a site at Crossrail Place in Canary Wharf called Market Halls Cargo.
