www.findamarket.net – *** NEWS ***

Long-running tensions between traders and trustees at Borough Market were revealed for all to see this week when the market evicted eight long-term traders because of their presence at the rival Maltby Street shopping area.

Rumours began to circulate at the end of last week that a number of traders had been forced to leave the market. These reports were confirmed in a combative statement from the Borough Market trustees on Monday.

“Having issued a notice to eight traders in December about the possible consequences of those traders establishing and trading at a new market at nearby Maltby Street, Borough Market has now asked those traders to leave Borough Market immediately,” said the trustees.

“The decision of some of these traders to sell fresh produce at nearby Maltby Street and to offer hot food only at Borough Market potentially damages this Market and harms the interests of other traders here. This is simply unacceptable to us.”

One of the affected traders – Kappacasein – has published a notice on its website which says: “We are no longer trading at Borough Market. We have been forced to find a new home for our market stall after being caught up in a dispute over loyalties. Please come and see us at the reopening of the stall in Bermondsey on Saturday 14 May from 9am to 2pm at what will also be our new cheese making premises.”
Kappacasein has found a new home at the Voyager Business Estate on Frean Street in SE16.

Over the past 18 months many familiar names and faces from Borough Market have established a new enclave of food and drink businesses in and around the railway arches along Druid Street and Maltby Street, centred on the Monmouth Coffee Company roastery just off Tanner Street.

Many of the traders using the arches for storage and production during the week have started opening to the public on Saturday mornings.

The less crowded Maltby Street area has proved popular with shoppers disillusioned with fighting their way through hordes of tourists at Borough.

Maltby Street is not a market in the traditional sense as it is a collection of traders operating from disparate premises rather than on the street or in a designated market hall.

The Borough Market statement continued: “Some in this group of eight openly promote the out-dated line that Borough Market is a tourist trap and that our intelligent and discerning food shoppers should come to the new Maltby Street market instead. For those who firmly believe this, the only route is to leave the market.

“The trustees of Borough Market cannot condone the actions of these traders who receive subsidised pitches and service costs at Borough Market and seek to use the profits they earn – on the back of these subsidies – to put at risk the commercial interests of their fellow traders who trade only from – and remain loyal to – Borough Market and their customers.

“After a decade of falling standards we are resolute in our mission to return Borough Market as a first destination for discerning food shoppers and we welcome the support of any traders, existing or potential, – wholesalers and retailers alike – who will help us to do that.

“Borough Market trustees actively welcome new markets that will strengthen the drive to support quality UK food producers and to push up standards for all food shoppers. We hope that this is the intention of the fledgling market taking shape at Druid and Maltby Street and, if it is, we wish it every success.”

The unseemly public dispute at Borough Market comes in the same week that the Real Food Market becomes a weekly fixture on the South Bank. Held monthly since July 2010, the market outside the Royal Festival Hall will now be open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

After a slow start the Bermondsey Farmers’ Market in Bermondsey Square has developed a reputation for high quality produce at reasonable prices.

Traders in the Shambles market hall in Devizes have won their fight to stop it closing for renovation work.

They feared many of them would go to the wall if they could not trade between June 10 and July 7 as laid out in a letter from Wiltshire Council two weeks ago.

They were warned their licences could be revoked if they opposed the closure.

The letter said: “The council is empowered to terminate a licensee’s license (sic) giving one weeks (sic) notice to the licensee if they ignore or fail to comply with any reasonable instructions or directions by the Market Officer.”

Tony May from Bromham, who has run his fruit and veg stall for 15 years, said he and fellow traders were furious at the lack of consultation.

He said: “We have been treated with utter contempt, kept in the dark, our livelihoods put at risk by a department of Wiltshire Council that has little regard or respect for the market traders.

“Are the elected members of the council aware that this type of activity is going on and would they want to be associated with it?”

Following negotiations with council officers, set up by Wiltshire councillor Jeff Ody, it was agreed that the market hall would remain open.

Its lower half, closer to the Market Place, will shut between June 10 and 29 and the upper half, closer to the west central car park, will close between July 1 and 20.

Traders voted 16 to one to accept this compromise at a meeting last Thursday.

A council spokesman said: “The nature of the project is complex, as it involves the re-roofing of the building and replacement of the lantern light above while the market stalls below remain in use. “The council and its contractor, Steele Davis, are working closely with market traders, neighbouring businesses and residents to ensure that the works progress with the minimum of disruption and the utmost safety.”

The £300,000 renovations will weatherproof the roof.

source: Wiltshire Gazette & Herald

THE CHAIRMAN of Blackburn market traders has delivered a stinging attack on council bosses as he closes his stall for the final time today.

Chris Appleby is set to shut his discount grocery stand after 20 years rather than move to the new market, in the shopping centre, which opens on June 1.

A long-standing critic of the plans, Mr Appleby accused Blackburn with Darwen Council of ‘destroying’ the market with the way it has gone about the move.

But council bosses hit back, insisting that it represented ‘a great opportunity’.

There are 127 spaces in the new £8million market, on the ground floor of The Mall’s £66million extension.

So far, a total of 27 leases, covering 35 stalls, have been signed, while 89 stalls have been unofficially ‘allocated’.

The council expects the market to be between 50 and 75 per cent full on opening day, with some stallholders taking longer to fit out their pitches before they start trading.

Mr Appleby said: “We’ve reached the end of the road.

“We have been losing money since before Christmas, and I have been hanging around hoping that the council would reconsider the terms and conditions of the new market.

“But it’s apparent they’re not going to do that.”

Mr Appleby said he had been trading ‘pretty well’ until the move was announced.

His objections include the rent increase in the new complex, and traders being forced to trade for six, rather than three days.

He added: “My view is quite straightforward. The council has destroyed an extremely fine existing market.”

But Coun Dave Harling said: “We are sorry to see any trader go from the existing market.

“The market had been struggling for some time, and action needed to be taken.

“Most people don’t dispute that.”

source: blackburncitizen

Market traders say they are disappointed after a college decided to buy its fruit and vegetables from a supplier more than 40 miles away.

Leicester College, which has a campus in Aylestone Road, Leicester, used to spend £2,000 a month on fresh produce from the nearby Wholesale Market, in Commercial Square.

Traders said they had provided fruit and veg for the college’s culinary and catering students for the past 20 years, but were told a few months ago they were losing the majority of the orders to a supplier in Birmingham.

A spokesman for the college said they had not ruled out buying from traders in Leicester, but made the change due to “quality of produce, price and service.”

Market workers said the college should be supporting local businesses.

One trader, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s all the same products, so to say it’s about quality is nonsense.

“Of course customers come and go these days, but when you have dealt with someone for 20 years you don’t expect this.”

Traders said a new employee, who is not from Leicester, had been put in charge of ordering produce and had made the decision to change suppliers, but the college would not say whether or not this was true.

The trader said: “In a time when we should be supporting locally, and also thinking about the environment, it doesn’t make sense for a college which is basically across the road from us to get stuff from Birmingham.”

A spokesman for the college said they still used the main Leicester market and were “open to using local suppliers.”

He added: “The suppliers used by the college are benchmarked and reviewed on a continual basis based on quality of produce, price and service.”

The spokesman did not say how much produce was still bought locally, but said the majority now came from Birmingham.

Councillor Paul Westley, the city council’s spokesman for markets, said he was “100 per cent disappointed” in the college.

He said: “With so many local businesses struggling, you would really hope it was important to them to support local businesses as much as possible. The market and traders and people they supply to employ a lot of young people, many of whom went to the college. Let’s just hope they rethink this move.”

source: thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk

GENEROUS market traders have collected £600 for local causes.

Stallholders at Northleach market are donating the funds to the town’s primary school and swimming pool, as well as The Evergreen Club, Northleach playgroup, 1st Northleach Scouts and the Cotswold Hall.

Traders can set up their pitches free of charge every Wednesday in the market place and asked to make a donation to local charities.

Former town councillor Roy Mustoe helped relaunch the venture in 2007, after a 100-year absence. It is now run by greengrocer Geoff Geen.

Mr Mustoe said: “The more people who buy here, the more money is ploughed back into the town.

“It is really built up now and has a good reputation.”

The shoppers of Chesterfield| were invited to vote for their favourite Market Traders in a closely fought competition run by Chesterfield Borough Council in their Chesterfield Market Retailer Guide.

Holding onto their title of ‘Favourite Market Stall’ for a second year was Ibbotsons for the outdoor market and the ‘Favourite Market Hall Retailer’ award went to the delighted new owners of Freds Haberdashery.

The winning traders were presented with cash prizes and certificates by the Mayor and Mayoress of Chesterfield at a presentation on Chesterfield Market.

Ten lucky shoppers who were picked at random from the market competition entrants were also presented with £50 worth of vouchers to spend on Chesterfield outdoor market or the indoor market hall.

The Mayor of Chesterfield, Cllr Keith Morgan said: “The number of entries we had for the competition was fantastic and shows that there is still an awful lot of support for Chesterfield’s markets. Many shoppers have loyally supported the traders for a number of years and we are also attracting new customers with the quality, value for money and fresh local produce which the markets can offer.”

Market shopping is becoming a more attractive option as people are economising in these credit crunch times. As well as saving money and supporting your local market traders, shopping on the market is good for the environment as it cuts down on food miles, uses less packaging and therefore reduces your carbon footprint.

A MOVE to the High Street has been welcomed by market traders in Rayleigh.

Many believe the switch would lead to more customers.

However, some stall owners warned the change could upset some regular customers accustomed to its location.

Glenn Mackett, 48, has taken his Southern Farms Butchery stall to the market for 25 years.

He said: “I think it would help. The way business has been going here in recent years, I think it’d be good to try to get some new customers in.

“People know where it is, but you’d get more passing trade if it was in the High Street.”

Joe Hayden, 71, hands out free teas and coffees in the market with his wife, Gill, and other helpers on behalf of local Christians.

He said: “On the one hand, it would bring in more people. We’re a bit out on a limb.

“But we are also established here. We have children from the FitzWimarc School coming here for hot chocolate every week. It works well because it is more secluded.”

Pete Holdsworth, who has run a pet food stall with his son, Perry, for 22 years, added: “I don’t really mind where the market goes, as long as it stays open.

“The people of Rayleigh want their market to stay open.”

A Nantwich councillor has hit out at plans to bump up the town’s market stall rents by 25 per cent.

The huge rise is set to hit stallholders in both the indoor and outdoor markets in Nantwich, as well as stallholders who work out of Crewe, Sandbach and Alsager markets.

findamarket.net is free for all market traders and operators!

Rises will vary depending on the location of each stall and its size, says Cheshire East Council.

But Nantwich Town Cllr Arthur Moran (pictured) says it’s “just not on”.

“Cheshire East has announced these rise after the budget for the year has been passed,” he added.

“To increase prices by 25 per cent in the current economic climate is just not on.

“The town centre is under great pressure anyway in the current climate and with the new Sainsbury’s store on the doorstep.

“There are a number of empty shops in the centre, and the market is one of our few thriving areas, so this is not good news.”

Council officials say they have to increase rents to meet the increased costs of running the markets.

Phil Sherratt, Cheshire East’s head of environmental services, said the average increase will mean about £6 more for a full market day’s trading.

“The council is committed to growing our market towns,” he added.

The current rent levels come to an end on June 30.

source: http://thenantwichnews.co.uk

TRADERS in Derby’s Market Hall are calling for a review of the city’s bus routes after a dramatic fall in business since the opening of the new bus station exactly a year ago.

Some stallholders say sales have fallen by up to a half now that buses no longer stop off near the Market Hall.

Before the new bus station opened last year, passengers were able to get off the bus at central locations such as Derwent Street and Corporation Street but now they go directly to the Morledge station.

Traders say this has resulted in a loss of passing trade and are calling for the old drop-off points to be reinstated.

Butcher John Inger has worked in the historic market for 35 years. He said: “I love the Market Hall, but if it wasn’t for our loyal customers I’d probably have had to close by now.

“The footfall has reduced significantly since the new bus station opened.

“Many of our customers are elderly and it really is quite far for them to walk.”

Andrew Poynton, whose family newsagent business has been in the Market Hall since 1866, said: “Buses dropping off passengers near the Council House was so important to this part of Derby.

“Lots of people enjoy coming to the Market Hall but it seems that the changes are making it harder for them to visit.”

Last year, butcher Steve Lewin collected more than 2,000 signatures from customers calling for buses to stop closer to the market.

Mr Lewin, of Chaddesden, said: “Arriva buses alone carry around 7,000 people a day into Derby on their Nottingham Road services. That’s a potential 7,000 customers who used to get off at the Council House and would come to the Market Hall as it was so close for them.

“I really do think that if the buses started dropping off people where they used to, the situation would improve. Many are elderly and struggle to walk far so are discouraged from coming here now.”

Another trader, Rob Tomlinson, who runs the Supapet stall, saw a dramatic drop in sales when the bus station opened but is optimistic about the future.

“In the week before the buses changed, our sales were up on the previous year”, he said.

He and other traders are planning to hold a series of events to encourage more people into the Market Hall, such as Easter celebrations, exhibitions and workshops.

Meanwhile, Councillor Chris Poulter, city council cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said he had sympathy for the traders.

He said: “I fully understand their concerns. Ultimately, where buses stop is a commercial decision of the bus companies. Whilst some services stop at the bus station, others terminate in Exchange Street, near to the Market Hall.

“I would urge traders and members of the public who are worried about this to contact the bus companies.”

Bus company Arriva said it had no plans to change its routes.

Keith Myatt, for Arriva Midlands, said: “Prior to the opening of the bus station, we carried out a passenger survey of our Nottingham Road services.

“Two-thirds of respondents said they were quite happy for the buses to adopt a new route to the station.

“We regularly monitor all of our services but presently we have no plans to alter these particular bus routes”.