Birkenhead Market to Open at TJ Hughes on 25 February 2027

Birkenhead Market will open in its new home on Thursday 25 February 2027. Wirral Council announced the date on 16 September, and it is the first firm opening date the council has put in public since traders were told they would be moving to the former TJ Hughes store (Wirral View).

Full planning permission for the work inside the building has now been approved, the council says. It gives two reasons for the timing:

• extra work is needed inside the building “to ensure it is fit for purpose”
• the council does not want to move traders close to Christmas and disrupt their trade at the busiest point of the year

There is a third thing in the announcement that is easy to miss. Preconstruction work at the TJ Hughes site “identified previously undiscovered water damage”. The council says that will be dealt with as it moves towards agreeing the full construction contract. On its own account, then, the main building contract for the new market has still not been signed.

Cllr Paula Basnett, Leader of Wirral Council, said the problems “were not anticipated” but that finding them now “means they can be properly addressed before traders move into the building”.

What the October date on the market building meant

The new date lands four months after the point the council’s own paperwork was pointing at.

In March 2026 the council applied for permission to demolish the existing market building. It put notices on the building itself. Those notices said permission was being sought to demolish the structure from October, and only after every current trader had moved out (Wirral View, 6 March 2026).

October is now the month the market’s progress goes back to councillors instead. The traders will still be in the Claughton Road building over Christmas, and for two months after it.

We could not open the council’s planning portal today to read the demolition application or its current status: the site is behind a security check that blocks automated access. We have not given a reference number rather than guess at one.

How Birkenhead Market got here

The council has been trying to rehouse this market for years, and this is its third chosen site.

• A new market on the former House of Fraser site was dropped when costs rose beyond the available budget.
• In March 2024 the Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee approved a move to the former Argos unit on Princes Pavement.
• By September 2025 officers were recommending that no further steps be taken on the Argos plan, because the retail core of the town centre was shrinking and the unit sat on the edge of it. Around £1.3m had already been spent refurbishing it (Wirral View, 27 August 2025).
• In November 2025 the same committee approved the TJ Hughes plan, with the option of individual units in the Grange Precinct for traders who prefer that (Wirral View, 19 November 2025).

The right to hold a market in Birkenhead is older than any of it. The original grant was made by Royal Charter in the thirteenth century, and was later codified by the Birkenhead Improvement Act 1833 and the Birkenhead Corporation Act 1881.

Who is building it, and for how much

In June 2026 the council awarded a pre-construction services agreement and enabling works to Krol Corlett Ltd, at a cost of £610,843. That figure covers design, enabling works and the ordering of long lead items (Wirral View, 5 June 2026).

The main refurbishment and fit-out contract was always going to follow separately, “subject to agreed costs and programme”. That is the contract the council now says it is moving towards agreeing.

Krol Corlett is the same contractor that has been working on Wirral Met’s £4m Twelve Quays campus at Shore Road. Its managing director, Daniel Tebay, described the market as “a cornerstone project for the ongoing transformation of Birkenhead town centre” when the appointment was announced.

Construction and fit-out at TJ Hughes was reported as starting in July 2026 (Wirral View, 6 July 2026).

Two dates for anyone following this

The council’s committee work programme, published with the Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee agenda on 14 September, sets out when the market comes back to councillors:

Both are listed as non-key decisions (agenda and work programme, 14 September 2026). Meetings are held at Wallasey Town Hall and are webcast.

What it means for you

• If you shop at the market: nothing changes yet. Traders stay in the Claughton Road building through Christmas and into 2027.
• If you trade there: the council says it is putting on seasonal events, marketing and improvements to the existing market environment to support footfall during the wait.
• If you want the detail before the councillors get it: the 20 October committee papers are normally published about a week before the meeting, on the council’s democracy pages.
• If you are driving into town: the market site sits off Claughton Road, and demolition work there will eventually affect the roads around it. We track live closures on our Wirral roadworks and travel page, and town centre car parks are listed on our parking in Wirral page.
• If you are following town centre schemes generally: our Wirral planning news page collects the applications and decisions we have covered.

Sources

• Opening date agreed for new Birkenhead Market, Wirral View (Wirral Council), 16 September 2026, for the 25 February 2027 date, the planning permission, the reasons given, the water damage and the Leader’s comments.
• Birkenhead Market Update, Wirral View, 6 March 2026, for the demolition application and the wording of the site notices.
• Birkenhead Market contractor appointed to push project forward, Wirral View, 5 June 2026, for the £610,843 pre-construction agreement with Krol Corlett Ltd.
• Work due to get underway at new Birkenhead Market, Wirral View, 6 July 2026, for the start of construction and fit-out.
• Plans to give Birkenhead Market traders a new home move forward, Wirral View, 19 November 2025, for the committee approval of the TJ Hughes move.
• Update on Birkenhead Market relocation plans, Wirral View, 27 August 2025, for the Argos unit being dropped, the £1.3m already spent on it, the March 2024 approval, the House of Fraser scheme and the charter rights.
• Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee, 14 September 2026, Wirral Council, for the committee work programme and the 20 October and 1 December report dates.