Company ‘unable to reach agreement’ to be Rhyl Queen's Market operator

Construction of the market, in Rhyl’s town centre, is complete, but the site is unlikely to open before an operator is appointed by the council.

Today (September 12), a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that, after Mikhail Hotel & Leisure Group was awarded the contract to be its operator only for this to fall through, an agreement later failed to be reached with another company.

The development will comprise a number of food kiosks – with a central “food hall” to eat - and retail and events space once it is up and running.

In a FOI request to Denbighshire County Council, the Journal asked: “Could you also please disclose how many operators the new Queen's Market building in Rhyl has been offered to? And, if possible, who these operators were?”

Th council responded by saying that the site went out to the open market via Sell2Wales in late 2022, but received no tender submissions.

A decision was made to go back out to the market but with a more simplified process, and not via the Sell2Wales system.

Its response added: “We contacted any company that had expressed an interest with us during the original tender process, and advertised it on the Rhyl Regeneration microsite.

“These submissions were evaluated as per the evaluation methodology, and Mikhail Hotel & Leisure Group came out on top.

“In June 2023, Denbighshire County Council received approval from cabinet to award a contract to Mikhail Hotel & Leisure Group.

The food kiosk areas at the Queen's Market (Image: Newsquest)

“The project team and Mikhail Hotel & Leisure Group then entered into meetings and conversation to progress, but unfortunately, were unable to come to an agreement. Both parties decided to part ways.

“The team then held conversations with the company who finished second. The team were, again, unable to reach an agreement.

“No operators have been directly offered the operation of the Queen’s Market outside of this process.”

The events space at the new Queen's Market (Image: Newsquest)

It is understood that the council is in discussions with numerous potential operators, and would prefer to wait until one is secured before opening the Queen’s Market.

While the Queen’s Market could be run by the council itself, its preference is to appoint an operator with greater expertise in leading such developments.

The building’s interior is complete, but external areas are not yet fully developed, while its food kiosks are still be fitted with all of the necessary kitchen equipment.

Its events space, meanwhile, is seen as a potential venue for community events, pop-up markets, concerts or an ice rink, to name a few examples.