Fee increase for Plymouth ice cream sellers

It only applies to those around the Hoe

Ice cream sellers who trade on the streets around the Plymouth Hoe will see their fees rise by two per cent next year but there will be no increase to the city centre street traders due to ongoing regeneration work.

The new charges will affect ice cream traders who occupy the waterfront pitches in Hoe Road, Madeira Road and Grand Parade who will pay around £155 more per year bringing the total to £7,886. 

Those in Pier Street and Cliff Road pay a lot less so the rise will be around £30 annually.

A total income from ice cream pitches in 2026/27 of £42,500 is expected. 

A report to Plymouth City Council’s licensing committee said that the ice cream traders were now able to connect to an electricity supply which saved them money, however, they had had to make a large investment to adapt their vehicles to connect to the power.

A two per cent increase was considered “feasible and fair”.

Meanwhile the report highlighted that city centre traders had faced disruption over 2025/26 with the impact of public realm work and the cost of living crisis causing an increase in costs to traders for electricity, stock and staffing.

The current traders had found themselves being moved to temporary sites and on occasion they have had to be moved twice. 

“This means they continue to face uncertainty and the impact has been felt by their customer base too. We want the traders to be able to maintain a viable business going forward and their presence in the city centre.”

The annual street trading city centre income is less than pre-covid and stands at £37,000. 

With this in mind, the recommendation was to not increase the consent fee for the 2026/2027 trading year for the city centre sites. This was agreed by the committee.

“The council understands the impact of the building work on the traders,” said the report. “The improvements to the public realm will improve the look, feel and footfall of the city centre. Once the building work for the public realm has been completed we will implement an inflationary rise (based on RPI at time of building work completion) on street trading consents.”

The current £30 million Armada Way scheme is set to be completed next year but follows a number of other improvement works in the city centre which have resulted in hoarding and fencing being erected and areas being out of bounds since 2022.

Officers noted that an increase of four per cent to current traders’ site fees in the city centre would only generate an extra £1,491 a year income. However, if another one of the existing traders left, which was likely if the site fees were increased, then it would mean a minimum loss of £3,986 a year which would be sorely missed. 

Street trading can legally only cover the core costs of operation such as enforcement, staffing and maintenance. It is not able to operate for profit.