Jane Swift, who has led Borough Market as chief executive officer for more than a year, has been approved into that role permanently by its Board of Trustees.
Swift, who previously worked with Trussell Trust, Workers Education Association and the Landscape Institute before joining Borough Market, has a deep background in operations and financial management as well a passion to help those in need through food. She is a trustee as well of Harold Hill Foodbank and the Hornchurch Passion Play.
“We were delighted when Jane applied for the role and even more delighted that she secured this important position against some tough external competition,” said Adrian Bunnis, Chair of Trustees at Borough Market. “Jane’s wealth of talent and experience will help us continue to make Borough Market the best food market in the world. We have utter confidence in Jane’s ability to work alongside the Market’s staff and traders to sustain the progress that has been made during the past year as we strive towards achieving our ambitious strategy for 2030.”
The more than 1,000-year-old Borough Market, which is run by a charitable trust, is led by a volunteer board that “oversee its governance and are committed to supporting the local community both in and around the Market.”
The Market continues to evolve to meet the needs to shoppers and those who help deliver the highest quality foods, including fruits and vegetables. Once dedicated to greengrocers of South London, it has expanded its reach, both on the ground on in social media circles, to become a sustainable food production hub. While it remains nimble through its short supply chains, it has stretched its base through an embrace of new ideas and new technology. Check out their website, Borough Talks podcast and Instagram page to see how this longtime fixture is moving forward.
Swift is pleased to be leading that charge as Borough Market also continues its strong bounce back from deep impacts of COVID-19, when it had to dip into reserve funds to steady operations and underpin short-staffed traders feeling the pain of both the pandemic and Brexit. Now, Borough is seeing more traffic and more trading. Under Swift’s leadership, it has been able to look more closely look at food standards, recently introduced its own Food Policy, which will be a five-year process to better “principles that define our food.”
Those principles include quality, environmental sustainability, social and economic sustainability, animal welfare, knowledge and transparency, opportunity, health, variety and accessibility.
“Borough Market is a community that makes me so proud,” Swift said. “It brings together amazing food from around the world by traders who are the very essence of creativity, diversity and commitment to what we do. This iconic London destination is run by a fantastic team who are so committed to making the Market the very best it can be. Working together with our traders, our dedicated staff and purposeful trustee board, I am looking forward to continuing to play my part in the Market’s continued success.”
