The Big Interview: Market Halls

Market Halls has reshaped the food hall landscape in the UK, merging the vibrancy of street food with the comfort and community of indoor dining. At the helm of this ambitious venture is Andy Lewis-Pratt, a former property investor who found a second career in an industry he never anticipated entering. In this in-depth interview, Andy shares his personal journey, the challenges he’s faced, and his grand vision for the future of Market Halls.

From retirement to reinvention

After a successful career in property development, Andy Lewis-Pratt retired to the sun-drenched Algarve in Portugal, where he intended to enjoy the slower pace of life with his family. However his youngest daughter sparked his decision to return back to the UK that would put an end to his short-lived retirement. “My youngest daughter was growing up in an ex-pat bubble, and I started thinking about her future, her education, and the experiences she was missing out on by being so far removed from the UK,” he says.

This concern triggered the thought of returning to the UK, but Andy was adamant about not re-entering the property business. Yet, fate had different plans. A friend suggested that Andy visit the Time Out Market in Lisbon, a two-hour drive from his Algarve home. That trip changed everything. “When I walked into the market, it was like a light bulb went off. I saw all these independent traders, offering global food in a vibrant, communal space with bars and common seating. It was something I knew we needed in the UK.” Upon a return weekend to London, Andy asked his friends in property development if the city had anything similar to the Lisbon market, to which they responded no.

Andy’s property instincts kicked in. “I started thinking about how this could work in London. I knew the city had a thriving street food scene, but it was all fragmented, with vendors scattered across outdoor markets. There was nothing unified like what I saw in Lisbon,” he recalls. The idea of creating indoor food halls that could operate year-round, regardless of the weather, began to take shape.

Andy wasn’t one to jump into things without thorough research. “I wanted to make sure Lisbon wasn’t just a one-off success, so I travelled across Europe, visiting food markets in different cities. Then I went to New York, where I visited 14 food markets in just two days. It was exhausting, but it gave me a solid understanding of the global food hall trend.”

Back in the UK, Andy began scouting for potential sites and building connections with vendors and investors. “I was incredibly fortunate to still have friends in the property world who believed in my vision and were willing to support me,” he says. “It took a year of travelling back and forth between Portugal and the UK, but eventually, Market Halls was born.”

The Market Hall blueprint

Creating Market Halls was no small feat. Andy’s experience in property development gave him a solid foundation, but the food hall business came with its own unique challenges. “The first thing I learned is that food alone isn’t enough to sustain a venue,” Andy says. “You need bars, good design, and a space that’s well thought out. Operations can make or break you.”

The first Market Hall opened in Fulham, in a bustling area right near the station. “Fulham was a learning experience,” Andy admits. “The public loved it, but commercially, it was too small. We had too many traders competing for the same pool of money, and the bars were too small to handle the crowds. While we were always busy, we struggled to make a profit.”

Despite these challenges, Andy didn’t lose hope. “I never believed in cookie-cutter ideas — rolling out 100 restaurants in three years, then becoming a flop. That’s not sustainable. I wanted Market Halls to be different, to be part of the community, and to fit in with the local architecture,” he says. This philosophy drove Andy to create unique spaces that weren’t just about food but also about culture and experience.

The next location, in Victoria, was a game-changer. Situated in an old nightclub right next to Victoria station, it quickly became a beloved destination. “Victoria worked from day one. It had the right size, the right mix of traders, and the space to accommodate a large number of people without feeling overcrowded,” Andy explains. “It was our first big success, and it showed us what a Market Hall could really be.”

Building on the success of Victoria, Andy pushed forward with an even larger project: a Market Hall on Oxford Street. “We opened in November 2019, and it was our biggest one yet — 30,000 square feet with seating for 1,000 people,” Andy says. “But it turned out to be too big. The scale made it difficult to create the intimate, community-focused atmosphere we were aiming for.”

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis that shook the entire hospitality industry to its core. “Those were our ‘terrible years’,” he notes. “We had to close all our venues, and it felt like everything we’d built was crumbling. There were times when my wife asked if we should just pack up and move back to Portugal. We’d put our money into this venture, and we had nothing to show for it.”

But Andy isn’t one to give up easily. “I don’t believe in letting go,” he says. “We decided to reopen with new lessons under our belt. We learned a lot during the pandemic — like the optimal number of traders and bars, and the importance of not overwhelming customers with too many similar food options.” There was also a focus on customer eating habits. “We learned that if you’ve got your basics covered, like a burger joint and a chicken option, you don’t need three or four others offering the same thing,” he says.

Market Halls reopened its Victoria rooftop in July 2021, followed by the full reopening of both Victoria and Fulham in September 2021. Fulham eventually closed in December 2021, but the lessons learned there paved the way for success elsewhere. In June 2022, Market Halls opened in Canary Wharf, a deal that had been put on hold due to the pandemic. In a partnership with Blackpool, Market Halls filled the bottom floor creating an incentive for the rest of the building to be filled. A major gas and oil company filled the space and relies on Market Halls for everything, from morning coffees, to lunch and after work drinks. “People have this perception that Canary Wharf is just boring bankers, but the reality is different,” Andy says. “Since the return to office post-COVID, people are looking for more than just a place to work. They want a place to socialise, and Market Halls has provided that.” Market Halls in Canary Wharf is exceptionally busy on a Thursday night and the venue has been seen as a major success ever since the team moved in.

Read the full interview in our October issue.

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