English Market stall is a tasty buy

The Queen of England was among the more familiar faces to pass by Stall 42, in Cork’s English Market, in 2011 — but famously she got waylaid in conversation with fishmonger Pat O’Connell.

Newly for sale is the lease on Stall 42, vacated prior to Christmas by the Iago food company, which has moved onto nearby Prince’s Street.

Iago, founded in 1993 by Sean Calder Potts and which also traded briefly in Blackrock village, subsequently, renewed its Market lease with Cork City Council earlier this year, for a 20-year period, dating from last July. Now, the lease carries a €100,000 price, via auctioneer Sam Kingston, of Casey and Kingston.

It’s a rare public offering within the English Market, and the stall’s lease allows a retail shop for the display and sale of meats, cured and cooked, fish, fowl, vegetables, fruit, flowers, confectionery, cheese, sauces and Irish speciality foods. It permits the sale of chilled foods, but excludes the sale of hot food. The 500 sq ft stall has a rent of €8,000 pa, with service charges of €9,500, rates of €2,800 pa, and insurance of €1,500 pa.

Iago’s moved to take over the one-time butcher’s shop, Tom Olden’s, on Prince’s Street, in December, at a rent thought to be c €30,000 pa, and Mr Calder-Potts noted at the time that the economic downturn meant rents on city trading streets had come back to affordable levels, having been driven up during the boom by phone and mortgage shops.

* Details: Casey and Kingston, 021-4271371