In Part One* of this trilogy of turpitude Crow explained how the former Labour regime in Brum (until May, this year) looked after its cronies whilst bankrupting the Third City. The closure of York Road in the unlikeable suburb of Kings Heath to enrich said cronies was harmful to the rest of the local inhabitants. Worse still, the bent Council has been shafting taxpayers by failing to claim adequate pavement and stall rents from their pals.
Part Two** went a bit deeper into this scandal and introduced Pip Bradley into the mix. A Labour crony - who is doing very nicely thanks to her political connections - she (a) runs so-called artisanal markets through an alleged "Community Interest Company" (CIC), and (b) her own capitalist enterprise making hot sauces. CIC's are a massive hit with Labour folk wishing to enrich themselves.
We pointed out that Bradley obtained CIC status by claiming to be promoting expensive artisanal food and somehow educating locals about this. Oh yes, and she was also supposed to be "mentoring" small businesses. We showed that the last accounts provided precious little evidence of any small business advice-giving (which is widely available in any event) and that the markets have moved far away from their supposed foodie focus to become predominantly venues for flogging gimcrack tat to the materialistic local Lambrusco Leftists.
Incidentally, Crow received a torrent of abuse (much of it anonymous) about this journalism yet not a single rant explained how selling some of the crappiest gewgaws of our capitalist society is of value to the "community", although some of these solipsistic "socialists" did make the extraordinarily bourgeois assertion that the markets are "nice". WTF?
Also in Part 2 Crow pointed out that Bradley manages her CIC affairs to pay a very low amount of Corporation Tax, and also does not class herself as an employee to avoid further taxation such as Employers National Insurance.
Incidentally, another harsh and Leftist critic of Crow was one Owen de Visser. At least he had the cojones to post in his real name. Interestingly, his own business dealings are similar to Bradley's in that he has one capitalist company and a CIC. Alas the last accounts of Lux Gallery Limited appears to show that the capitalist company was, at the time of reporting, in dire straits and heavily indebted. The next accounts, due soon, will make interesting reading and may reveal whether the company has been trading whilst insolvent. WTS! His CIC, Birmingham Open Studios CIC, is a minor operation with a turnover of less than £10k. de Visser also does a Bradley by billing his "services" separately or, as he puts it, "Owen de Visser bills [the CIC] separately for his work ..." These lefties, eh?
[Declaration of Interest - Crow is involved in a Company running a similar "sub-contracting" arrangement (though almost certainly for different reasons to the above). Further, Crow has been genuinely self-employed for over 20 years. Oh, and Crow does not keep spouting leftist claptrap about the importance of taxation for payment of burgeoning service bills and benefits.]
Also in Part 2 we revealed the allegation that Bradley, by claiming to operate "in the community interest" was only paying the bankrupt former Labour Council a third of the fee for each market licence. Crow did a Freedom of Information request and this is TRUE. The sh*tty Council is making what have been "cruel" and "short-sighted" cuts affecting the most vulnerable in society. But leftists in grim Kings Heath prefer old people to have cuts in social care, the destruction of SEND services [sic], a jobs emergency, kids holed up in B&B's, third world road systems etc. so long as they can enjoy "nice" taxpayer-subsidised markets selling "Dark Forest Fey" candles and the like.
This reply raised some further interesting points. Bankrupt Brum requires a licence even if a market is on private ground. We asked the Botanical Gardens - which is itself a registered charity - how much it charges Bradley for holding her tawdry markets there and got a bizarre response, "on behalf of the CEO", implying that the Gardens Charity boost its own funds by the "extra" gate fees it receives from people desperate for rubbishy prints and so on. Crow asked if this meant that the Gardens were receiving nothing from Bradley, but they have declined to respond. Perhaps the trustees might care to look into this?
Bradley also uses Bournville Village Trust for Bradley's bougie markets, and does not charge her since the events are said to be "of community value". Kerching for Bradders!
It is a long time since Crow stood at outdoor markets but does hire inside stalls at a number of fairs - currently paying from £28 to £43 per stall. It is said that Bradley charges a whopping £75 per stall to the new start and other tyro businesses she purports to encourage and mentor. It is further said that she pays £25 per stall to the same firm that erects the stalls at Moseley Farmers Market (and takes one for herself for "free" for her Pip's Hot Sauce Limited capitalist business). Thus she is making a big gross profit on those figures - if they are true. No doubt local leftist anti-capitalists think making so much profit from micro-businesses is great!
Readers will know that Bradley has so far failed to answer press enquiries. She recently took to social media to say, "I'm not often lost for words (usually quite the opposite, unfortunately) ..." but that doesn't apply to her dealings with the press. Once again we asked Bradley about her alleged high stall rents:
"THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION - PRESS ENQUIRY
I note that you have failed to reply to two press enquiries to date but I still have to give you an appropriate chance to comment as my investigations are continuing.
I am told, rightly or wrongly, that you charge £75 a stall for York Road. Is that correct please?
I am also told that you rent the stalls from the same people that supply Moseley FM at £25 each. Is that correct please?
Are these rates the same, or very similar, to the other markets that you operate? If not, are you prepared to provide the figures noting that many market operators are quite public with their stall rents."
Once again, Bradley did not respond other than my way of automatic acknowledgement!
[Crow is interested to hear from Bradley stallholders, past and present. Email below.]
By an amazing coincidence, given Bradley's seemingly cavalier attitude to her "mentoring" obligations she recently held an event where she hired a person to talk to some of the people shelling out rents to her, to address "stallholder burn-out". Inevitably, the event was held at The Hare and Hounds - another major beneficiary of Labour Party cronyism.
One piece of advice from someone who has "stood" fairs and markets for 22 years. If you want to help "your" traders, Ms Bradley, and help aspiring businesses stop charging them so much!
No wonder the food businesses are disappearing from the "community" markets in favour of jewellery, "art", candles etc. It is extremely hard for small food businesses to survive in the current climate. Let's look at a case study, say "Pip's Hot Sauces Limited". Regular readers will note that Crow exposed that "business mentor" Bradley had failed to file her own accounts at Companies House in accordance with her legal responsibility. Bradley did then file her latest figures to 31st October, 2025 and they make very grim reading:
Whilst taking high stall rents off her traders she no doubt explains to them how she went from positive (just) net assets in 2024 to grim net liabilities in 2025. She is only technically solvent due to the Company owning a computer and "plant and machinery" - believed to be a motor vehicle (ironic as York Road was closed to motorists by her Labour pals). No tax payable though - ROFLMAO!Given the number of markets she is now operating it takes a bit of doing to make a loss from her own trading at them - particularly if she is actually getting a "free" stall via the CIC. Just as well her traders' high rents mean she is getting a screw from the "community interest company".
Insane leftists can look away now. Bradley has started to operate at the Greenfield Crescent site - "or muscle in" as one informant put it, rightly or wrongly. There is already an existing, er, "artisanal" market at the "Edgbaston Village"site but Bradley is operating special [sic] ones there like the recent Halloween one. Bent Birmingham City Council wouldn't comment on the rents payable by the effectively identical commercial operator, but Crow has established that they are, indeed, paying three times the rent payable by Bradley (and that difference is lost to us taxpayers for every Bradley market). This anti-competitive behaviour by Labour needs to be questioned by the new Coalition of Chaos running the failing Council. We did write to the National Market Traders Federation, but it has not responded. Two individuals (at least) have complained to the CIC Regulator and discussions are ongoing.
* https://crowmultimedia.blogspot.com/2026/09/birmingham-labours-crony-socialism-york.html
** https://crowmultimedia.blogspot.com/2026/09/kings-heath-pippas-silence-york-road-2.html
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