Chapel Market institution M. Manze is to shut after 106 years in Islington.
Tim Nicholls, owner of the much loved pie and mash shop, confirmed the closure to the Gazette this afternoon – blaming high business rates. This weekend, he is opening a new branch in Braintree High Street.
It is expected the shop will close by Christmas. David Twydell, chairman of the Chapel Market Traders Association, said it’s a “nail in the coffin” for Islington’s famous shopping street.
Mr Twydell, who has run a fruit stall in the market for 40 years, said: “Manze is part of our market, part of Islington. It’s always been there. I’m 60, and for all of those 60 years there’s always been a Manze.
“This goes to show the state the market is in at the moment. The rate hikes are hitting the small businesses while the big boys can survive. It’s a nail in the coffin of our market’s decline. The worry is, it’ll become just another street of fast food joints and Costa coffee shops.
“Manze is the reason a lot of people come to the market. People come up to my stall asking: ‘Where’s Manze?’ They associate Islington with pie and mash and come to visit because of that. It makes you worry as a stallholder.”
In March, the Islington Chamber of Commerce marched on Whitehall with a 12,600-strong petition against devastating 45 per cent rate increases. Businesses in Islington face the third highest hike in the country.
M. Manze first opened in Chapel Market in 1911. Ownership stayed in the family until 1985, when final descendant Lydia Manze died. She had worked in the shop for 60 years.
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