A Nottingham trader who felt he was ‘shoved out’ of Victoria Market says city centre relocation has given a ‘new lease of life’ to the business.
Rajesh Dhingra, 48, from Nottingham was served an eviction notice in March last year for his beauty salon Mona’s Beauty Bar telling him he needed to vacate Victoria Market immediately.
Mr Dhingra, among other traders were first told Nottingham City Council would surrender its lease on Victoria Market in February 2022.
Some traders signed compensation offers and arranged new premises to move into, whilst others like Rajesh planned to stay as long as possible to continue running their business.
This date came and went with no certainty, and it was eventually confirmed that negotiations had fallen with Global Mutual, the asset managers of the market.
Credit – Nathan Woollard
Mr Dhingra later sought legal representation in an attempt to challenge the decision, but this didn’t go as planned, and the electricity to his shop Mona’s Beauty Bar was shut off.
Rajesh has been trading out of Long Row in Nottingham City Centre since April 2025, a move he feels has positively impacted trade.
Speaking on this transition, Rajesh said: “There were some initial challenges. Setting up was definitely a challenge as well letting former clients know where we are now.
“Obviously there’s also been a rent increase. The market was council run and was nowhere near as expensive as our rent is now.”
“They are not taking accountability”
Rajesh DHINGRA, 48
Rajesh said his overall expenditure has increased since the move, but other factors such as revenue have increased.
Reflecting on his business’ relocation to Long Row, Rajesh said: “We’ve had the opportunity to expand which has allowed us to have two brand new treatment rooms in this new location
“We have been able to do all kinds of things we weren’t able to do in the market, such as having more clients in at one time.”
The ability to open later has also been a factor the 48 year old believes has positively affected the shop.
“We can stay open until 6pm now as opposed to 5pm, which has allowed us to make more revenue day to day”, he said.
Talking on the future of ‘Mona’s beauty bar’, Rajesh is very positive that things are going to move in a good direction.
“At the moment things are ticking over, but we are very optimistic that things are going to work out very well for us.”
