Evaluation of Love Your Local Market 2012

Contents

1 Background and Approach...... 2 2 Executive Summary...... 5 3 National Survey of Market Managers...... 7 4 Impact on Footfall...... 18 5 Local Case Studies...... 22 Ludlow Market...... 22 Bolton Markets...... 42 Portobello & Golborne Market...... 67 Fleetwood and Poulton-le-Fylde Markets...... 84 Bradford (Shipley) Market...... 105 6 Recommendations for Future...... 125 7 Credentials...... 128

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Background and Approach

The idea for a National Market Day (which morphed into the Love Your Local Market fortnight) was one of the 28 recommendations of the Portas Review into the future of the UK’s High Streets.

The Review was published in December 2011, therefore there was precious little planning time available between recommendations and the opening of the first Love Your Local Market event on June 23rd 2012. Nontheless, it was clear there should be an independent assessment of the effectiveness of the initiative and a collation of good and bad outcomes to inform approach for any follow-up in future years.

ROI Team won the task to evaluate Love Your Local Market 2012 following a call for proposals briefed by NABMA on behalf of funding partners the DCLG and the NMTF and we were appointed in May 2012. ROI Team (www.roiteam.co.uk) pitched for this work in conjunction with Town Centre Specialists MAKE Associates (www.makeassociates.com) and we have worked with MAKE through all stages of this task from planning, through information gathering, collation of information, and reporting and we thank them warmly for their support.

The project brief centred around 3 lines of evaluation, which are reported separately in this report:

National Survey of Market Managers The objective here was to assess the impact of LYLM across markets nationally through the perceptions and judgements of the professionals running participating markets, probing dimensions such as:

How markets participated in LYLM What they did and what they offered Support offered to New Traders Local impact of LYLM on market and town

Our objective was to evaluate the response from the managers of as many of the 281 participating markets as possible.

We devised a survey approach based on a user-friendly questionnaire, offering a range of methods for completion in order to maximize response levels. Following active canvassing for responses we were able to analyse returns from 139 market managers, representing well over half of all markets that initially registered their intention to participate in LYLM.

Impact of LYLM on footfall in markets An uncalibrated increase in footfall was an objective of LYLM, and ROI Team was briefed to analyse this using whatever evidence could be found.

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In fact we discovered that only 30% of participating markets claim to have any method for assessing footfall, and only 7 of 281 participating markets measure footfall objectively.

To enable any form of assessment, we were fortunate to have co-operation from PFM (who count foot traffic in markets electronically) and Springboard (who count foot traffic in town centres). Both companies very helpfully provided data for analysis without charge.

Although the data provided is clearly not comprehensive, it does provide a very clear indication of the effectiveness of LYLM in enhancing footfall, which is reported below.

We strongly recommend that the markets sector should consider setting up more modern and effective systems for assessing the impact of national initiatives like LYLM on footfall and also on market turnover.

Five Local Case Studies We were tasked to assess the approach to LYLM and its impact on 5 specific markets and town centres. These were:

 Wyre Council (Fleetwood and Poulton-le-Fylde)  Ludlow  Bolton  Bradford  Portobello and Golborne Road

Our findings from these 5 markets are reported as individual Case Studies within this report. In fact, as we imagined, the deeper information and experience gathered through these local studies revealed insight, observation, witness and recommendations that have been very valuable in informing the national picture – especially as regards best practice and recommendations for the future.

For this important aspect of our work we identified the importance of on-the-spot questioning and observation during the LYLM event. In response for each location we assembled a fieldwork team comprising an ROI Team / MAKE leader with interviewers recruited locally for their knowledge of the town, market, and shoppers. The backbone of these studies was a slate of some 30 ‘Depth Interviews’ per location with all market stakeholders i.e.

 Shoppers/visitors  New Traders  Existing Traders  Nearby shopkeepers  Market manager(s)

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Interviews were recorded via ink on paper, with our fieldwork teams supplementing perceptions of LYLM in action by way of photos and video recordings of interviews.

In addition to ‘at the time’ observation by our fieldwork visit, we also wanted to assess the medium term influence of LYLM on New Traders, town and market. Therefore in late September / early October we made follow-up by phone with market manager and with as many New Traders as we could.

Data and information from all three lines of research were collated and analysed in house by ROI Team.

We have presented interim findings at the NABMA Conference in September 2012 (Local Case Studies) and at a meeting of the DCLG Markets Working Group in November (National Survey).

We thank NABMA, NMTF, and DCLG who commissioned our work and who have provided support and advice at various points, our collaborators at MAKE Associates, and many market professionals who have responded and supported our work with unfailing enthusiasm. We thank you all for this opportunity and hope that our work will be informative and helpful for future guidance.

Nabma wishes to thank Bizaar (www.bizaar.net) for their generous assistance in helping to provide digital copies of this report to market professionals.

Andrew McCall Managing Director ROI Team www.roiteam.co.uk December 2012

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Executive Summary

Our evaluation indicates that Love Your Local Market 2012 has successfully addressed its major objectives:

 We project that more than 220 markets participated nationally  Participating markets provided more than 2,000 pitches for New Traders to taste market trading  Three months after the close of LYLM some 200 New Traders were still trading, indicating a promising number of new market careers  Despite very poor weather, the event triggered an average increase in footfall of 3.9% in participating markets (compared with a decline of 6.3% for all town centres for the period – suggesting an ‘LYLM factor’ of more than 10%)  With no evaluation system available it is harder to endorse any increase in trading revenue triggered by LYLM. But our consistent experience of other retail locations is that an increase in footfall correlates with an increase in spend

There was a good spread of participating markets across England, with a concentration in London and the NW. However take-up was very low across Scotland, NI, and Wales.

Evidence of the National Survey is that LYLM was best supported by bigger markets. Main reasons given by managers for not participating are:  Limited time to plan and set up  Limited availability of management time and funding

Our exposure to the event at local level indicates a wide spectrum in levels of preparation, resource provided, and levels and range of supporting activity. Whilst there are stories of heroic levels of activity from tiny markets, the general picture is that well-resourced and well- organised markets achieved the best outcomes and greatest impact from LYLM.

An expectation of the project was that New Traders introduced by LYLM would learn from seasoned existing traders. Our perception however at all markets that we visited was that New Traders had well developed skills for displaying their offer and in particular for engaging potential customers at their stall. In fact the potential for learning was in both directions.

Unprompted awareness of the event was weak among all stakeholder groups. However when prompted by the LYLM logo approximately half recognised the logo or recalled the Mary Portas heritage.

Perception was that promotion was completely inadequate and that such promotion as there was had been too inward-facing and not sufficiently targeted at shoppers. Certainly awareness of the event was stronger among traders than among shoppers.

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All stakeholders warmed to the concept of LYLM and readily identified the potential for tangential wins such as:  Work opportunities  Training for young people  Revitalising town centres  Bringing new shoppers into markets

Managers told us that LYLM had increased the size of their market (25% agreeing against 0% disagreeing); also the vibrancy of their market (almost half agreeing).

The concept of LYLM seemed to focus stakeholders’ minds on the value of their market to the town, stimulating many requests for more active support by councils, investment in the market, better promotion of the market etc.

Everywhere shopkeepers were entirely supportive of LYLM, recognizing that they stand to benefit from a vibrant and changing market nearby. On the other hand some existing traders were suspicious, fearing an erosion of product exclusivity, and expressing some resentment about support given to ‘fair weather traders’.

Four fifths of participating markets made use of the LYLM logo. But only about half of markets offered additional pitches (Portas’ ‘tables for a tenner’) to New Traders, reflecting challenges in finding space in some markets, and possibly challenges with existing traders.

Markets recruiting New Traders always provided LYLM pitches at special rates. But the main request from New Traders was for further and fuller support to them, such as training and help with business planning. This was not well provided under LYLM, with only one market in 5 making use of the NMTF First Pitch package available in trial form, and a third of markets providing some other form of local support for traders. Certainly there was very low awareness among New Traders of further support available to them in any form.

There was overwhelming agreement from all stakeholders that Love Your Local Market is an event well worth repeating. In fact all stakeholders believe that LYLM should be staged more frequently in future years, with requests ranging from monthly to twice a year. Curiously no- one supported the view that maintaining a once a year frequency preserves the status of the event.

For the future there were many further excellent ideas from stakeholders. These, together with our own recommendations drawn from our work, appear in ‘Recommendations for the Future, section’ [page 124] of this report.

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Love Your Local Market 2012 National Survey of Market Managers What do Market Professionals Say?

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Love Your Local Market – Survey of Market Managers

1 Approach

As part of their evaluation of Love Your Local Market 2012, ROI Team developed a survey of Market Managers, to gauge the style and level of participation in the event. A standard self- complete questionnaire was sent by email to 281 markets who initially registered their intention to participate in the event.

The questionnaire, which appears on the following page, was designed to be easy and swift to complete and, as far as possible, to probe for fact rather than opinion. To encourage completion we made it possible to complete the survey via various channels including:

 Online  Via email  By telephone  By hard copy through the post  Face to face at the NABMA conference

We also prompted actively for completion by phone, email, and via Twitter.

The survey was closed on September 21st, and all who had been contacted were thanked for their support (whether or not they had completed the questionnaire).

We received completed questionnaires from 139 markets, suggesting we have the views of about half of all markets that registered interest and more than half of those that actually participated. (We say this because typically managers responding to the survey often manage more than one market).

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2 Participation

Response was well distributed to provide genuine national coverage, though a good concentration in the North West and in London. In addition, we had 2 responses from Wales and one from NI.

Participation by Method of Completion: Markets that did not participate were much less likely to complete the survey, and had to be chased by phone.

Registered Interest and Confirmed Participation: 139 of the 281 markets that registered interest in Love Your Local Market responded in full. Results show that the great majority of markets registering interest in LYLM did subsequently participate, with almost 4 out of 5 registrants following through to participate.

LYLM 2012 came together at pace with minimal time to secure additional funding or to plan in any way. Managers deciding not to participate indicate that for many short notice and limited funding / resource available was the deciding factor.

 ‘Don’t have enough budget’  ‘Already organising our own initiatives’  ‘Lack of resource’  ‘Timing was wrong’  ‘Not enough time to organise’  ‘No available space’  ‘Not in our promotional calendar’

This may further suggest that smaller markets with tiny management resource were less likely to participate.

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How did markets participate in LYLM? There was no definition nor any minimum requirement to qualify for ‘participating in LYLM’. During our fieldwork visits to 6 markets during LYLM it because clear to us that there was a wide spectrum in terms of the level of activity provided by markets. Our survey shows that of participating markets more than 4/5ths used the LYLM logo. The offer to New Traders of ‘tables for a tenner’ was one of Portas’ specific recommendations and was a central objective of LYLM. But only half of participating markets offered ‘tables for a tenner’ or otherwise signed up New Traders. And only 4 markets out of 10 put up branded banners.

90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 84% 40% 72%

30% 54% 57% 52% 20% 39%

10%

0% Used the Put up Undertaken Signed up Offered Other event logo branded wider first time 'tables for a banners PR/marketing traders tenner' campaign

How else did markets participate?

More than half of participating markets offered something not appearing on our list of options. From the list below it can be seen that there was no end to the invention of market managers!  Free Gazebos!  Small events to celebrate, a range of activities, entertainment, local competitions  Music in the market, flyers, car stickers  Promo bags, produced reusable bags with logo for traders to distribute

 Organised a free Enterprise Fair to provide support and mentoring to new business start-ups  Involved non profit making groups and schools/colleges  Info packs for new traders  Local Press  Event to introduce New Traders to market trading, including information sharing  Q&A's with other traders and market operators  Guided tour round the markets  Competition for traders - best stall presentation, best trader costume  Invited local charities and organisations to have a stall  Flash mob dance to launch the campaign

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Most of these ideas worked brilliantly and some did not. We recommend there should be further investigation of these support ideas with a view to identifying the 10 most successful, with a Good Practice Guide to recreating them.

3 Findings

Satisfying Demand from First Time Traders: There was also a big spectrum as regards the number of First Time Pitches offered and the number of New Traders attracted by different markets. In our experience the number of New Traders attracted by any one market varied from 1 to 57 and the number of pitches offered from 5 to 200.

Number of First Time Traders participated Number of stalls available to First Time Market Traders

42% 26% 24% 24% 10% 11% 7% 17% 20% 6% 8% 5% None 10 or 10 to 20 20 to 50 50 to more less 100 than None 1 to 5 5 to 10 10 to 20 to more 100 20 50 than 50

Exactly half of participating markets launched between 1 and 10 new market careers. The largest number of markets (42% of participants) made between 1 and 10 pitches available for New Traders, and 4/5th of markets were able to satisfy demand from New Traders.

Were you able to satisfy all demand from the First Time Traders? Not sure No 13% 6%

Yes 81%

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200 new market trading careers:

Based on conversion ratios established by this survey we estimate:

 281 markets registered intention to participate in Love Your Local Market

 221 (79%) did participate in a visible way in the initiative

 110 participating respondents to our survey introduced 964 New Traders during LYLM, an average of 8.8 per market

 This indicates a total of 1,945 New Traders introduced to market trading by LYLM 2012

If we assume a continuation ratio nationally of approx 10% (as indicated by our follow-up interviews) we can then project the success of LYLM 2012 in launching new market trading careers: Love Your Local Market 2012 has introduced almost 2,000 New Market Traders and launched almost 200 new market trading careers.

Support Schemes for New Traders: The main complaint of New Traders from our Depth Interviews programme was that they were not given any support beyond the ‘trade for a tenner’ scheme. Many stated they would have welcomed further support, especially training and business planning. Yet less than a third of markets provided any local schemes to support New Traders.

First Pitch Initiative Local Schemes No, don’t Yes know 19% Yes 30% about it 13% No No, but 70% I am aware of it 68%

NMTF at the time of LYLM 2012 had a new support product First Pitch in development. This product has achieved very high awareness, with almost 90% of markets knowing it – yet only 1 in 5 market managers are using it. It would appear that the appetite exists for NMTF to capitalise on the high awareness of First Pitch and enable more New Traders to benefit from it.

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A number of markets mentioned locally based schemes to support New Traders, including:

- ‘Offered business advisers and job centre advisers’ - ‘Operated our own ‘Trade for a Day’ working with our Council’s Economic Development Unit and Invest NI’ - ‘Delivered basic business training to First Time Traders’ - ‘Market Start scheme aimed at providing help and financial support to First Time Traders’ - ‘Local initiative – TEST (Transforming Enterprise in Stoke-on-Trent) and via a link with the local authority Business Enterprise Coaching system’ - ‘Experienced traders mentoring new starters’ - ‘Link with locally based business training bureau’ - ‘Created public liability insurance scheme to remove the obstacle for New Traders’ - ‘Training workshops about business start ups’ - ‘Try a Trade initiative, aimed at retail based start ups who wanted to explore Markets as a sales outlet’ - ‘Reduced rent for a month plus mentoring’ - ‘New trader discount schemes’

4 Opinions of Love Your Local Market

More than two thirds of market professionals support the Love Your Local Market initiative and believe it should happen again. Only one in 25 says it’s not effective.

Managers have their say about LYLM: More than 40 market managers used the questionnaire to provide open comments, demonstrating a high level of engagement with the event and a number of challenging comments such as the following selection:

- ‘Our markets are virtually fully occupied so to spend a lot of resource attracting New Traders may be wasted if there is then nowhere for them to continue their career’

- ‘It may be that once evaluation has taken place we carry on with the initiative and expand it even further into the future and use it as BEST PRACTICE for our Markets’

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- ‘One of my traders suggested that the fortnight be used to raise funds for a national charity and if all supporting markets took part it could provide a significant donation and engender good PR’

- ‘I don't think it's right to offer £10 stalls to New Traders because you have your regular traders with you all year round and they're building up the business and paying substantial rent’

- ‘In our experience, the initiative has raised the profile of the markets industry with politicians at both national and local level by allowing operators and local market authorities to showcase the best that the industry has to offer’

- ‘New traders need a bigger selection of stock to give them a chance. I remember the saying ‘the bigger the flash the more the cash’. Maybe next year we could get some wholesalers involved’

- ‘Where is the funding from National Government? Great them saying they support but how are they supporting it?’

- ‘I think it would be better to have the event in school holidays so the children are around the market’

- ‘It would be good if there was an initiative whereby New Traders could buy block insurance for about £2-£3 [each]to mediate this cost. This should be available all year round’

- ‘The initiative would work better in February when markets need a boost to the number of stall-holders. It would coincide nicely with Valentine’s week’

5 Effects of Love Your Local Market 80%

Size of Market: 60% One quarter of respondents believe LYLM 40% 68% increased the size of their market, whilst two 20% 27% 6% thirds believe their market maintained the same 0% 0% Number of Number of Number of Don’t know scale. stalls has stalls has stalls has increased as stayed much decreased as a result the same a result

Vibrancy: 50% The LYLM initiative is seen to have enhanced 40% 30% vibrancy in UK markets, observed by almost half 44% 50% of market managers. 20% 10% 6% 0% 0% Vibrancy Vibrancy Vibrancy Don’t know has has stayed has increased much the declined as as a result same a result

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Turnover: One manager in 5 believes LYLM has helped to 60% boost turnover. The large proportion of ‘don’t 50% 40% know’s’ here may reflect historic reticence for 30% 54% traders to reveal their earnings. We believe the 20% 27% 10% 19% markets sector needs to find a more effective 0% 1% basis for gauging the impact of events such as Turnover Turnover Turnover Don't LYLM on turnover in markets. has has stayed has know increased much the declined as as a result same a result

Footfall: In spite of dreadful weather a third of managers 60% say that LYLM has boosted footfall in their 40% 53% market. This must largely be based on 20% 32% observation, as few markets are measuring 13% 0% 2% footfall. Reference to a later section of this Footfall Footfall Footfall Don't report suggests their observation is sound: has has stayed has know nationally a basket of LYLM participating increased much the declined markets showed a year over year increase in as a result same as a result footfall of 3.9%

Benefits from Love Your Local Market- 40% How long will they last? 30% 20% 39% Market managers have an open mind about how long 10% 21% 22% 19% the LYLM alchemy will work, with almost equal votes 0% for short/medium/lasting impact. More than a third is Will fade Will last Will Don't away for a few continue know not confident enough to state a view. swiftly months well into the future

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6 About Markets

Type of Markets managed by respondents: More than 4/5ths of this sample describe their markets as ‘General’ and fewer than one in 10 as a ‘Fruit & Veg.’ market.

Number of Stalls: The biggest proportions in this sample are markets of more than 100 pitches, suggesting that the biggest markets took greatest interest in LYLM.

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Love Your Local Market 2012 Impact on Footfall

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Impact of Love Your Local Market on Footfall

How markets measure footfall:

One objective of Love Your Local Market 2012 was to boost footfall in markets and town centres, and ROI Team was tasked to investigate a method for evaluating this dimension for this report. Evidence from Depth Interviewing of shoppers, traders, and shopkeepers reported under the Local Case Studies section of this report provides anecdotal evidence on this subject: that the weather throughout LYLM 2012 was so poor that markets would normally expect severely depleted footfall and sales. That generally footfall was observed to be in line with expectations for the time of year was, in the circumstances, a very good result and a tribute to LYLM.

According to our National Survey of Market Managers, less than one third of participating markets are measuring footfall in any way; and some of the claimed methods (eg ‘trader feedback’ and ‘observation of CCTV’) are not exactly gold standard. Therefore markets’ own measurement systems are not going to provide the answer.

If yes, how?

 High Street counters

 Manual footfall count

 Electronic footfall counters

 Trader feedback

 Cameras

 By annual surveys

Source: Springboard, monitoring footfall in 80 UK town centres, using camera technology

ROI Team approached two firms leading the field in scientific counting of people traffic in town centres (Springboard) and markets (PFM Quality Counts). We are very grateful to both Springboard and PFM for their assistance with this aspect of our work.

Springboard (www.spring-board.info) counts pedestrian traffic in some 80 town centres across the UK, using electronic monitoring and camera based counting. In conjunction with the ATCM they publish the monthly High Street Index (HSI). Using NABMA’s list of markets participating in LYLM we discovered 22 town centres / High Streets counted by Springboard containing a participating market.

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We asked Springboard to provide comparisons between the footfall for these 22 locations on the following basis:

Period June 23rd to July 7th 2012 indexed against the equivalent two weeks in 2011 for two sets of towns/High Streets:

All 80 Springboard-counted town centres.

21 town centres with markets participating in LYLM.

The difference in % terms between the two readouts can be assumed to be the ‘LYLM Factor’.

In many cases Springboard’s monitoring point is not directly adjacent to the market. Nontheless they are all centrally placed and, for trending purposes, may be assumed to provide a fair proxy for footfall fluctuations in the market.

PFM (www.pfm-counts.com) describes itself as the longest-established people-counting company in Europe, and we believe the only company offering a dedicated service to counting people traffic in markets. We indentified 10 markets which have been counted by PFM since before June 2011 or earlier, of which 7 participated in LYLM 2012. The 10 PFM- counted markets are listed below.

We gave the same challenge in terms of dates for comparison to PFM Quality Counts for:

Specific LYLM markets

All other markets measured by PFM.

As PFM manage systems dedicated to counting traffic through markets we can regard their data as convincing.

Analysis of Springboard data

 All 80 Springboard towns : - 6.3% DECREASE

 21 LYLM towns average : + 2.4% INCREASE

 21 LYLM towns w/c 23rd June +2.6% / w/c 1st July +2.2%

Source : Springboard (www.spring-board.info) Benchmark: All 80 Springboard measured towns Basis : 2 weeks June 23rd to July 7th 2012 vs same two weeks in 2011

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Analysis of PFM data

w/c 24th June w/c 1st July Bradford (Keighley) 4.4% 5.4% Bradford (Oastler) - 0.2% 2.9% Bradford (St James) 3.2% 4.5% Hereford (Butter Market) - 4.0% - 6.0% Leeds (Central) 1.9% 3.8% Leeds (Kirkgate) 3.8% 3.0% Newcastle (Grainger) 5.0% 3.0% Sheffield (Crystal Peaks) - 2.5% - 6.7% Sheffield (Castle) 3.8% 6.5% Wolverhampton (Bilston) 2.9% 8.3% All PFM markets average 1.8% 2.5% LYLM markets average 3.1% 4.7%

Source: PFM (www.pfm-counts.com) All PFM measured markets, markets not participating in LYLM indicated in green Basis: 2 weeks June 23rd to July 7th 2012 vs. same two weeks in 2011.

Summary These analyses, whilst admittedly partial, provide a firm endorsement of the ability of LYLM to make tangible enhancement in towns where it is staged. Looking at the PFM data, we see that the markets participating in LYLM significantly outperformed the average of all PFM measured markets, with an average increase in footfall across the two week period of 3.9% against an all PFM markets increase of 2.2%.

All participating markets (in blue) showed footfall increases ranging from 1.9% up to 8.3%. Three non-participating markets (in green) all showed declines in footfall ranging from -0.2% to -6.7%.

Looking at the Springboard data set, we see that the average of all 80 measured towns showed a decrease compared with 2011 of -6.3%, reflecting the very poor weather. On the other hand the 21 towns measured by Springboard participating in LYLM showed an average increase of 2.4% for the period.

For this footfall analysis of the initial Love Your Local Market we have been fortunate to have the assistance of Springboard and PFM. For the future, to better assess the tangible impact of LYLM, we strongly recommend that markets as an industry should develop a more concerted approach to measurement of footfall and also turnover. These measures would seem to be essential for gauging the effectiveness of any markets oriented promotion, starting with LYLM. The present patchwork system is inadequate in the modern retail age.

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Love Your Local Market 2012 Impact of the event in Ludlow Market

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Contents

8 Summary...... 24 9 Fact File...... 25 About Ludlow Market...... 25 ‘Love Your Local Market’: What did they do?...... 26 10 Research Approach...... 27 11 Findings...... 28 What did shoppers say?...... 28 What did New Traders say?...... 30 What did Existing Traders say?...... 35 What did shopkeepers say?...... 38 What did market managers say?...... 39 12 Appendices...... 41

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1 Summary

 In Ludlow the importance of the market is clearly and immediately apparent from its central location if nothing else. The market is the draw for many of the things that put Ludlow on the map and continue to attract wealth into the town: tourism, fine food, the historic backdrop – and local people are keenly aware of its importance.

 Ludlow gave early and consistent support to Love Your Local Market, even though locally the concern is not about recruiting New Traders, much more about boosting footfall though the market.

 There were only a small number of New Traders available for interview in Ludlow, but we found them to be well prepared and with good skills for presenting their offer and engaging potential customers. Of 7 or 8 New Traders reported by the Markets Manager we found that 3 of them were trading successfully three months after LYLM – a strong ‘survival rate’

 This means that in Ludlow LYLM provided very much a two way skills swap for traders. Existing traders have just as much to learn from New Traders as vice versa – though here as elsewhere existing traders don’t see it that way.

 The Ludlow event delivered many of the outcomes targeted for markets: work and training opportunities for young people, and fresh offers and ideas in a traditional market location. It also provided one of the best examples of a New Trader identifying her market stall as the visible shopfront for a wider business flourishing behind it.

 There was limited awareness of LYLM across all Ludlow stakeholder types. The Market Manager acknowledges that in 2012 promotion was too much trade-focused; for 2013 he wants more effective promotion to shoppers and visitors.

 One interesting idea from Ludlow is to develop LYLM 2013 as a regional event, creating a Visit Shropshire Markets for LYLM attraction. The proposition would depend on visitors knowing that all Shropshire markets were participating in LYLM.

 The need to support New Traders beyond the ‘trade for a tenner’ proposition has been widely identified by our research. In Ludlow the Market Manager proposes that part of the offer to New Traders in 2013 should be a branded information pack answering the 5 or 6 issues that traders most often raise.

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2 Fact file

About Ludlow Ludlow is an alluring historic town of about 12,000 inhabitants, with a remarkable concentration of listed buildings – almost 500 in all. There are many reasons for visiting this remarkable town: Castle, Riverside Walks, Historic Buildings, Restaurants and fine food shopping .... And that’s before we get to the historic Market. It is believed that the market was licenced in 1083. Geographically and in terms of sentiment the market has always been at the heart of everything that happens in Ludlow.

Ludlow Market is owned and run by Ludlow Town Council. The market was rewarded NABMA Local Authority Market of the Year 2011. For the size of the town, Ludlow’s market is exceptionally active. According to their website the pattern of markets in Ludlow is:

Regular General Markets are held on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday each week of the year. The market square also hosts a range of specialist markets as the Local to Ludlow produce markets on the second and fourth Thursday of the month. On the first Thursday there is a Craft and Country market, also held on some Sundays. Antique & Flea markets and Book and Craft Markets are also held regularly on Sundays. On the first Saturday of each month (except August, January & February) there is the Made in Shropshire craft market.

Add to this a number of special markets staged throughout the year in association with Christmas, the Food Festival etc, and it can be seen that, for a town of its size, Ludlow is supporting a very large number of markets days – too many in the judgement of some regular traders.

Almost all specialist markets are sold out and sometimes extra stalls may be brought in to accommodate the demand. Ludlow market was the focus of some other fabulous events in 2012 – some blessed with better weather – including a visit from HRH Prince Charles in September, and the annual Food Festival also in September. There was a celebratory market after the Olympic Torch Visit in May (wall to wall sunshine, street entertainers, live music and free refreshments. As well as a number of market dedicated to the Diamond Jubilee in June. There was also a new initiative just before Christmas called ‘Tinsel Tuesdays’ which was supported by the Chamber of Trade and Shropshire Council. The market is always at the heart of things in Ludlow with events such as Continental market, specialist Art & Craft markets, Antique & Collectors fairs and a celebrated Local to Ludlow Produce market, which has drawn international press coverage for Ludlow from the world’s second largest newspaper.

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Ludlow’s markets are well supported by locals from Ludlow and nearby towns. The pretty town is also a magnet for visitors from all round the UK and even international visitors. Visitors come to Ludlow on daytrips and weekend visits, and the town is on the itinerary of coach parties bringing visitors of various wealth levels.

Ludlow’s markets are managed by the Council’s Markets Manager, supplemented by commercial managers who operate some of the specialist markets that lease the market square. The market is all outdoor, but with permanent and substantial stalls which all benefit from a good covering against the weather.

Love Your Local Market: What did they do? Ludlow was an early supporter of the LYLM initiative. There is evidence that LYLM was reasonably well promoted in and around Ludlow via a spectrum of traditional local channels including:

Local press Flyers downloadable from the website Hard copy flyers given out via market, library, and other public buildings

In spite of his evident enthusiasm for the event, Market Manager Nadeem Samari told us that the main objective of LYLM 2012 – recruitment and support for New Traders - did not suit his objectives. In Ludlow the concern is not the recruitment of New Traders – as there is a waiting list for pitches in the market. Rather it is to address dwindling footfall in the market.

One interviewee believed she had encountered LYLM on Radio 5.

That said awareness of LYLM was weak among market traders and weaker still among visitors. During our fieldwork, which included the high point of Ludlow’s participation, promotion was

virtually invisible, with a single banner materialising on the final day of the two week event.

Summary of Love Your Local Market in Ludlow

Awareness of LYLM among visitors and market shoppers was very low. Even among regular market shoppers, the majority were unaware of the event.

Traders were the primary focus of LYLM in 2012, and yet the purpose of LYLM had not been briefed to Ludlow Traders in a consistent way. We found that Existing Traders were not knowledgeable about the objectives of LYLM, with some regarding the initiative with suspicion on the basis that the support for New Traders was a threat to their existence.

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Even New Traders had only a sketchy knowledge of LYLM. There was mixed understanding of the concessions offered under LYLM and those typically offered to any New Trader. New Traders were unclear as to what circumstances entitled them to concessions under LYLM and for how long concessions and trading rights would continue.

3 Research Approach

We judged that, for reasons of immediacy and to experience the levels of engagement and enthusiasm for the event, it was important to carry out face-to-face fieldwork during the event itself. We travelled to Ludlow to conduct face-to-face Depth Interviews with a range of stakeholders which took place on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th July.

Depth Interviews were scheduled to last between 5 and 10 minutes, based around a pre- agreed slate of questions. At all Case Study locations we recruited one or more local people as interviewers to provide knowledge of town centre dynamics and local culture. In Ludlow we filed the following interviews:

Existing Market Traders 7 New Market Traders 4 Shopkeepers 6 Market Visitors 11

We also conducted a fuller in-person interview with Ludlow Council’s Markets Manager. The Markets Manager also subsequently completed the National Survey that we ran as part of our evaluation.

The weather was very poor during our fieldwork window, especially on the Friday when early rain intensified through the morning. A number of stalls were empty as traders from nearby towns and villages were unable to travel to Ludlow, and the wet conditions depressed visitor numbers and discouraged people from agreeing to interview.

At the end of September, approximately three months after the close of LYLM, we attempted follow-up interviews by phone with all New Traders standing in the market during LYLM, regardless of whether or not they were available for interview during our fieldwork window. We managed to have a meaningful interview with 4 New Traders, also a follow-up interview with the Markets Manager.

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We were not able to source any usable research of footfall through Ludlow Market. So for background on how LYLM impacted footfall in markets and town centres, please refer to ‘Impact on Footfall’ section [page 18] of the full report. 4 Findings What did shoppers say? We completed depth Interviews with a total of 11 visitors to the market, both occasional and regular market shoppers.

Awareness of LYLM was weak with only sketchy recall even when prompted by the logo. Awareness levels were weak among both local people and those who had travelled from further afield. One local shopper believed she had seen the logo in the local press.

Nonetheless everyone warmed to the LYLM mission when it was presented to them, with many shoppers recognising the contribution that the market makes to the town and the community.

‘I love the sense of community [in the market] and I think the government needs to support this’

‘Despite the weather Ludlow market appears to thrive and brings people to the town centre’

‘This scheme is a good thing. Local shops and the market are the heart and life of the tourism we get here, and give the town a reputation for being different. The market keeps tradition going’

In this area where jobs are few and far between there was recognition of the market as a provider of work opportunities and a place where young people can develop trading skills and training.

‘Young entrepreneurs should be encouraged, as they may find the ‘be your own boss’ aspect appealing’

‘Young people should be encouraged to get involved with market trading, as an alternative to university. It’s less academic but a good career path. Not enough young people hold stalls on the market here’

‘Young unemployed people are a good angle for Ludlow as it is a middle class town with an older population and older people enjoy helping the youth of today. The initiative [LYLM] should be marketed to business start ups and pitched for what it is, targeting young and growing businesses’

‘I hadn’t heard about [the LYLM scheme] but it’s a good idea, keeping small businesses in business and helping people to get started’

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‘If marketed correctly people will be interested in helping others and start ups. This gives

young people new opportunities’

Many Ludlow shoppers were engaged with the concept of markets and had developed ideas about the benefits of shopping in markets and of initiatives to help them.

‘Why can’t we bring people to Ludlow for longer than a day? I go to Germany for markets. Why not make our markets here better instead?’

‘It’s easier to shop in Tesco’s; however here the food is fresher, it lasts longer and there is more choice’

‘Promotion of markets could be improved by more national coverage: encouraging coach trips and the fact that it’s easy and convenient to visit markets, particularly for the elderly’

Restaging Love Your Local Market All in all there was a unanimous wish for LYLM to be repeated in 2013, with various ideas for enhancing the initiative - including a unanimous view that it should be promoted more vigorously.

‘It could run for longer, a fortnight isn’t long enough for it to take off’

‘It is a good idea and will be supported by people if they know more about it. It gives people a chance to see how products will sell and local people can see new goods on offer’

‘Maybe the event should celebrate New Traders. I would visit the market more often if there were more New Traders’

‘I see there are New Traders in the middle of the market, but I didn’t realise this until I was already in the market’

‘It’s a good idea and will be supported by people if they know more about it. It should be repeated more often and if it was a nice day more people would be out’

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What did New Traders say? New Traders were thin on the ground during our fieldwork, with only two trading in the market on Friday 6th July. We managed to interview them both, and interviewed a third (an ice-cream seller who would have had lean takings in the steady rain, on Saturday 7th)). We were able to arrange subsequent telephone interviews with two other New Traders, which also proved informative.

All of Ludlow’s New LYLM Traders proved to be articulate and thoughtful in their assessment of their trading proposition. Our observation during fieldwork was that they stood out from the rest of the market by the attractive presentation of their goods and by their skill and energy in engaging visitors and encouraging them to browse and sample their stall. Their approach seemed to be much more ‘customer aware’ than that of more established traders.

New Traders were impressed and appreciative of the opportunity provided to them by the LYLM scheme. That said they had a confused understanding of what LYLM was about and its objectives, and no clarity as to what was offered to them as part of the LYLM package, and what was a standard offer to New Traders. They were not clear as to the criteria for being a New Trader under the LYLM initiative.

It was not clear that anything had been offered to them beyond a concessionary rental for a trial period. A couple would have welcomed help with training, business planning and so, but were not aware of any scheme for providing that via the NMTF or any other route. One New Trader told us of a subsequent dispute with the Market when he found he was not able to trade on following the end of LYLM. He regarded this as a frustrating outcome and said he had made a wasted investment.

Follow up… Follow up interviews three months after the close of LYLM fortnight confirmed our observation that Ludlow New Traders were a resourceful group with good skills of engagement with customers. At that time we found that 3 out of 6 LYLM New Traders were still trading successfully in the market, a very strong continuation rate. Perhaps at Ludlow the New Trader label was quality rather than quantity. Summaries of our interviews with Ludlow New Traders follow below:

Sarah Rogers, Handmade Chocolates ‘My offer is tempting handmade chocolates and truffles, made with oils, not with extracts. Anyone tasting my products says ‘Wow’ – that’s because of the taste of the oils! It’s old fashioned chocolate with a modern twist. It’s for anyone wanting a treat or a present, but actually quite affordable.

I’m aware of the Love Your Local Market promotion and I‘ve seen the logo, though I can’t remember where. Maybe in a leaflet.

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What tempted me to get going in the market is the low start-up costs, as I’m a single Mum with limited means.

It was easy to get signed up, using Google and the phone. The Council called me back straight away and the information was very helpful. There was no complication.

I have been given 3 weeks trading at half rent with just £1 per day to park here, which is very helpful as it more or less means you know you will cover your costs for the day. Because of the bad weather today, it’s a rent-free day, but in the conditions I have taken more than I expected – so looking across the 2 days this week it’s certainly been worthwhile.

I would have liked more training and guidance about market trading, but I didn’t know about anything available, and no-one has mentioned it.

I think the LYLM scheme is good, as it’s really important to encourage people to try the market once per year, to fix that in their minds. Response from local shopkeepers will be mixed, but you’ve got to expect that.

It’s hard to gauge the impact of LYLM – I’m just not knowledgeable enough. But I thought footfall last week in good weather was strong.

I’m developing my website, but even with that it’s so important to be visible here in the market. Customers come up to your stall for three weeks and then eventually they buy, I couldn’t achieve this without the stall’

We conducted a short follow- up interview with Sarah by phone at the end of September, almost three months after Love Your Local Market. By this Sarah’s businesses was trading strongly and she was able to look back at the start she had under LYLM:

‘For me Ludlow Market has been my launching pad. I think back and think ‘Where else would I have got started? It’s the market that has made me visible and given me a platform.

Giving out business cards from the stand has been effective for me. A few people have taken my cards and now I’m getting enquiries and have taken a couple of bookings for events like Weddings next year. Tourists are asking me if they can buy my chocolates online, so I tell them

31 to look out for my website, but not for a couple of weeks yet! I’m a working Mum too, so it still seems I’m flying by the seat of my pants.

In Ludlow I’m now trading as a regular on Fridays, plus now I’m doing the regular Food Markets on Thursdays, and there are other foodie markets on the run-up to Christmas. For my offer Christmas Markets and the build-up to Christmas are important for trade. Soon I’m starting in a private market in Church Stretton, which will trade once per month.

LYLM was a good boost for me, really useful, and important for building morale. With half rent, we felt as though we couldn’t fail.

I feel I was given everything I needed to get me started. Subsequently there have been disputes among traders about which lines we are allowed to trade in. So I would have welcomed more guidance about these sorts of territorial issues. When you have an original offer like mine you are in danger of other traders stealing your ideas’

Jams, Chutneys, and Scones Although a New Trader, this stall-holder presents herself as something of a dyed in the wool traditionalist:

‘I came here because it’s my local market and it’s nearby. I started out in the Craft Market on Thursdays and then on Friday as a casual. Now I’m a regular on Fridays and Saturdays.

Market trading means lots of work for small revenue! The stall is £18.50 plus £1 to park – so I need to take £60 to break even over the day. I got half rent for three weeks, but that’s the standard offer to a New Trader. Today I was happy to take anything – we have to turn up so it’s better to cover the rent than to take nothing.

I do know about Love Your Local Market from leaflets given out in the market. I imagine it was fuelled by their desperation to let pitches – the ‘waiting list’ here is a fantasy.

I’m not sure about LYLM. I’m worried this 2 week summer scheme will just give fair weather people a chance to play at being traders. It’s easy to be a trader in the summer; if 3 or 4 coaches come in you can take £300 just like that. It’s trading through the winter that will show if you’ve got what it takes to be a market trader. A longer trial, maybe three months through the winter that would sort out the sheep from the goats’

We also followed up with this New Trader by phone at the end of September, almost three months after Love Your Local Market:

I’m still trading, it’s all up and downs, and about even numbers of both. I’m now trading regularly in the General Market on Fri and Sat; also as part of occasional Arts/Crafts/Food markets on Thurs and Sunday, and also standing in the Local to Ludlow Farmers Market.

I would welcome other forms of support for me as a trader, including consultancy. It’s always good to take a look in from the outside, and a second look at a proposition is always

32 beneficial. Even so, I have learned a lot about cooking and making produce from other traders in the market, just by looking at their produce and swapping tips with them.

Culture in markets, not just in Ludlow, is too closed. Some traders have been there for too long and are resting on their laurels. Established traders are allowed to impose their views and to restrict the scope of New Traders. For some a small annoyance raises a huge outrage. Traders are out for themselves, and have the habit of sorting things out in their own way by confronting or disrespecting other traders. The culture can became akin to bullying and in other workplaces action would be taken. Shouldn’t there be a Market policy on such matters? Where is the process for making a complaint or asking for adjudication? This is something that LYLM could provide in 2013.

At Ludlow, the Manager is progressive and receptive to new offers and extending the offer into new areas. But he won’t take action against existing traders because they are well established.

For the winter, I may shrink down to just one day per week, but will be trading on right through the winter. I wouldn’t walk away for a month, as some plan to, because that is like walking away from my customers.

I’m pleased to know that LYLM will take place again in 2013 and I want to participate. The most important thing to learn from this year is to give more priority to informing traders about the project and what is going to happen. This year we had no knowledge about LYLM until ROI Team explained it’

Ryan Clarke, Traditional Ice Cream Seller ‘I call myself a traditional Ice Cream Seller. Ice cream is bought from Cornwall via the internet. It’s a good, traditionally made product and has proved very popular. I can’t find a good enough ice cream locally, but I would buy locally if I could.

I’m a 17 year old, planning to go on to Exeter University in the autumn to study Physics. I wanted some summer work, but couldn’t find anything locally. I had the idea of selling traditional ice cream in Ludlow so I built and decorated an old-style ice cream cart with help from my brother.

I haven’t heard of LYLM, but now that you describe it, it sounds like a good scheme and I would have looked into it more fully.

I think the scheme should be repeated in the future, but it needs to be publicised better.

The timing of LYLM is good, as most New Traders start out in the summer. Winter is more difficult and it would be harder to attract New Traders in winter.

I had little idea of what was needed to sell ice cream. I made a checklist of necessities and then went straight to the Council to find out. They needed to check out the cart for safety and

33 hygiene, but it was all very quick and straight forward. I went on a Wed., I was licenced by the Saturday and trading within a week!

All the existing traders have been very helpful and supportive.

Because I’m selling ice cream, I’m able to pay on a per day basis, £18 per day when I trade. It’s helpful that I’m able to pay per day out of takings.

The Council were very helpful and flexible, but I haven’t had any specific help or training, and I haven’t heard about the NMTF. The investment to get me up and going came from family.

It’s been a really good experience and I have enjoyed being a trader.

On good days I have made more money that I ever had in my life. One day I took £90 in 4 hours. I’m thinking now it may be possible to do the same thing in Exeter as well as in Ludlow’

Sam Bruce, Scrummy Bites Sam Bruce was not available for interview in the market on July 6th, because he was scared about flooding following heavy rain. However we were able to interview him by phone at the end of September.

‘My offer is cakes and desserts, all freshly baked at home. Since LYLM, I have been trading Thursdays and Fridays [in Ludlow] and also in Knighton and Presteigne Markets. Presteigne is the most promising market. It only meets every two weeks, so there’s a sense of occasion when it happens. In Ludlow there are too many market days for the size of the town. There aren’t enough locals to sustain so many market days.

During LYLM I was offered half rent for one month. This was very valuable and gave me a launching pad, an impetus to get going. But I would have welcomed a wider package for New

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Traders, including training, advice and so on. No one gave me an explanation of the key things or any promotional leaflet or flyer.

Now I have to pay full rent month by month, but the stand is doing well enough, and I’m not wasting too much stock. The challenge is to judge the right amount of stock, as my produce only has a life of a few days.

Christmas is a promising period for me, so I’m planning to trade up to Christmas for sure, then maybe to have a break in Jan and Feb. I still have to pay rent, but at least if I close I won’t have to stock up the stall, which is expensive’

What did Existing Traders say? We completed depth Interviews with a total of 7 current traders in Ludlow Market, representing a good cross section of stalls.

Only half of these traders were aware of Love Your Local Market. One had read about it in a market trader’s magazine, and one thought he had heard about it on Radio 5. Not a single one thought they had learned about LYLM via local promotion!

Objectives of Love Your Local Market Existing Traders expressed mixed feelings about the objectives of LYLM. On the one hand they agree wholeheartedly on the importance of addressing the decline in footfall in the market and recognise how promotions and the arrival of new offers in a market can contribute to this. But mirroring this there is a widely-expressed anxiety that LYLM’s focus and support for New Traders is in effect giving an unfair advantage to traders who will take business away from these Existing Traders. Existing Traders articulate these anxieties as:

- There is a need for more active quality control over New Traders to maintain the status of the market. - Control of the type of New Traders welcomed onto Ludlow Market. The great majority of Existing Traders expressed the view that New Traders should not be allowed to compete with lines already offered in the market – or at least they should be placed in a different area of the market. - Potential New Traders should be vetted for their determination to persist and succeed as market traders. There was an anxiety that the support provided to New Traders by LYLM might attract ‘fair weather traders’ who would fold up at the first challenge to beset them. - The support offered to New Traders would be better spent to give support to Existing Traders. - Anxiety that LYLM might spawn too many markets that could not be supported by the finite number of market shoppers. ‘Regular customers remain, but sales steadily decrease, maybe because internet shopping is more convenient. People don't realise how cheap the market can be, so the scheme could focus on this’

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‘Why should they get cheaper stalls? We pay the same rent and don’t get any discount for poor sales’

‘New stall holders must be polite, friendly and committed’

‘Focus should be placed on saving money by shopping at the market more than trying to get new traders’

Attitude towards New Traders Whist acknowledging these genuinely expressed anxieties, our observation at various locations is that New Traders make a much greater effort to dress and present their stands, and work harder than many Existing Traders to engage shoppers and build rapport with them. There was an assumption that under the scope of LYLM, New Traders would learn the craft from experienced traders. In Ludlow and elsewhere our observation is that Existing Traders would have much to learn from the newcomers.

One trader was unhappy that the market manager had not consulted existing traders before committing to LYLM and developing his local strategy.

‘Local markets need to listen to what traders are saying before passing initiatives like this as they could help with ideas for this’

Overwhelmingly, Existing Traders say they welcome New Traders. They believe having more stalls and wider variety is good and can bring new shoppers to the market. That said, they don’t expect New Traders to provide direct competition by selling the same goods as Existing Traders. ‘There are more people, more colours, and more products. It’s good to have them here’

‘There is not as much enthusiasm in the market as there was before and New Traders can bring that’

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However, Existing Traders are not sure about the long-term effects of LYLM.

‘I support these initiatives but I’m not sure what will change’

Impact of Love Your Local Market Existing Traders do not believe that LYLM has boosted either footfall or takings in Ludlow Market – although acknowledging that the dreadful summer of 2012 is a contributor to this. The timing of LYLM 2012 was also thought to be unsuitable for Ludlow, falling across the Festival, when there are many other events competing for attention and spends.

‘No change on sales – but the poor weather could have affected it. It is normally busy, but if the forecast is not good people are distracted’

‘Difficult to see a difference [to footfall]. With poor weather, coaches don't visit as often when it’s raining’

‘The market relies heavily on coach loads, which are often cancelled with bad weather like today’

Enhancements to the Market All traders interviewed in Ludlow are clearly engaged about the health of the town and market, and many have articulate and passionate views and ideas about what should be done to boost the market.

‘They should return to strict 9-3 trading times, as it used to be. Traders leaving early leaves the market half empty and puts visitors off’

‘More experienced traders could mentor younger, New Traders’

‘Shops and market stalls should support each other so that any increase in marketing that brings people in is good’

Promotion of Love Your Local Market Ludlow traders are not always in harmony – but one thing they all concur on is that LYLM deserves better promotion. There is a perception that such marketing as there has been has been misdirected, targeting market professionals rather than the shoppers who create turnover. ‘Markets are notoriously terrible at marketing. They generate interest within the sphere, but they need to expand out of this. Very poor marketing for LYLM, why has it been so bad?’

‘Needs better advertisement, maybe in information centres, posters on public transport’

‘The initiative [LYLM] needs more promotion, if people don’t start spending in the future, how will the market be sustainable?’

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Reprising Love Your Local Market There is unanimous agreement among traders that LYLM is well worth repeating – though there are a range of views as to the best timing.

‘Yes, it should be repeated, but the market needs to be better advertised for it to work’

‘Should be repeated twice a year, winter and summer, to review and get better’

‘There’s always a drop in sales around ‘festival fortnight’, so the scheme has not fallen on a good time’

What did shopkeepers say? In Ludlow shopkeepers adjacent to the market have noticed a tentative downward trend in attendance at the market. They are also keenly aware that their own footfall is closely linked to the market’s.

Although they trade literally on the Market Square, only one shopkeeper had unprompted awareness of LYLM – and he had heard about it from friends trading in the market. All reported reduced footfall and sales during the LYLM fortnight, which they ascribed to bad weather impacting discouraging tourist coaches – so broadly their experience was worse than the nearby market traders that we interviewed.

All shopkeepers that we interviewed were supportive of the concept of LYLM. Even those in head-to-head competition with LYLM New Traders saw how new competition could actually be healthy and stimulate interest in their offer.

At Ludlow all shopkeepers interviewed were independents and akin to market traders in how they approach their business. Two commented they would have been interested to participate as traders had they known about LYLM, and perhaps managers looking to recruit New Traders for LYLM should consider this obvious pool of retail talent on their doorstep. Existing and New Traders alike may benefit from their experience.

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What did market managers say? Nadeem Samari, Markets Manager is a young man to be running markets in a traditional and conservative place like Ludlow, and he struck us as very much a hands-on manager. He was supported and guided by Ludlow’s former Town Clerk, Veronica Calderbank, who was instrumental in the success of the new look market introduced by her in 2009.

‘Ludlow is a traditional market town market. New Traders generally get a start on Mondays, and occasionally we are able to offer Fridays as well. There is also a ‘Casuals’ list – so if a stall falls vacant on the day it’s offered immediately to traders on the Casuals list.

Traders are not allowed to leave their vehicles in the Market Place – which is a bone of contention for some. But we offer a special incentive to traders i.e. parking for the day for £1.

The market has been trading continuously since 1083, and it has always been at the heart of everything that happens in the town. It’s part of the local social fabric, and the place for many social meetings. Geographically the market is at the heart of the town. We offer something for all demographics and for all visitor types. Tourist trade is important as well as selling to locals – but historically on Mondays and Wednesdays we are selling 85% to locals.

I heard about Love Your Local Market at the NMTF AGM in York, and also attended a talk given by NABMA introducing the concept. Markets are so important nationally as well as locally, so it’s important to support the initiative and participate. NABMA indicated a reasonable level of support for participating markets.

One issue for Ludlow is that the focus of LYLM is on New Traders. But that isn’t our challenge – we always have a waiting list. For us the challenge is to boost footfall’

Impact on footfall ‘Footfall has been patchy due to the dreadful weather. Bearing in mind the weather conditions, it’s difficult to assess the impact on footfall. In terms of sales, bad weather has also damaged traders’ take across the board. We’re an outdoor market, so bad weather has a big impact on sales. In terms of vibrancy, certainly LYLM has increased vibrancy. Flyers, posters, new faces on the market have all added to the sense of something new going on. New traders bring something new to the market and challenge the day-to-day standards’

Schemes offered ‘We distributed leaflets and flyers to encourage First Time Traders. We made a special offer to New Traders under the LYLM scheme: half rent for 3 weeks, then the opportunity to continue at full rent, or to close the position. I would like to see more events to promote LYLM and bigger outreach from the NMTF’

The future… ‘The impact during LYLM has been limited by the poor weather. But I regard LYLM as a springboard for other initiatives that will follow. For example we are planning to produce a New Traders Pack in the autumn. I believe we have launched 5 or 6 New Traders during the LYLM window.

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Any additional publicity for markets is a good thing. But LYLM should stay once per year, as that gives it more impact. LYLM needs to be more actively promoted so that the public come looking for it, to increase footfall. This year’s promotion was for the trade, but it should also be promoted to the public. It would work well to promote LYLM as a regional initiative, along the lines of Shropshire Markets Week, so that visitors could go to any market in the region and know they are participating’

Follow up... ROI Team conducted a follow –up telephone interview with Nadeem in early October, some three months after the close of LYLM

In Ludlow he estimates 7 or 8 New Traders sampled market trading as a result of the LYLM campaign. Of these 3 are still trading. Of the 4 or 5 who have given up he doesn’t know where they are now, or why they quit, except that one moved location to attend university, and one other left the market on bad terms!

‘LYLM was valuable because it gave a status to New Traders. Through LYLM New Traders were highlighted and celebrated. They knew they had a status and support and this negated the protectionist behaviour of some existing traders.

At Ludlow Market there is already a ‘two way street’ i.e. New Traders learn from old – but also vice versa. I encourage this synergy – so it can’t be attributed only to LYLM. Already I have set up traders who are receptive to New Traders in ‘buddying pairs’ – but on an informal basis.

For LYLM in 2013, I would like to see more focus on building footfall, rather than the mission to encourage New Traders to fill vacant stalls. In Ludlow the situation is that there is already over demand for pitches, and so I am building up the size of markets and the number of market days. But traders are telling me there aren’t enough visitors to support all these stalls.

Promotion for LYLM 2012 was too much focused inwards on the industry. In 2013 LYLM should go back to ‘Portas Principles’ i.e. about opening the market to the town’s shoppers and residents. Outside Shrewsbury Sunday Market there’s a sign that says ‘Support Your Local Market’ – this should be the watchword for 2013!

I would like to see a concerted national LYLM campaign to promote shopping in local markets, and what that can do for town centres. The NUF has developed the ‘Red Tractor’ badge of assurance; this is what LYLM can become.

I encourage NABMA to develop a national information pack for New Traders, addressing questions that I am often quizzed about, such as: Food Hygiene, Health & Safety, Insurance, Demarcation around traders’ offers, Business planning... The national pack would deal with all these big issues, and we could add detail locally’

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5 Appendices

Note: Some photos are taken from the www.ludlow.gov.uk website and may not been cleared for publishing.

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Love Your Local Market 2012 Impact of the event in Bolton Markets

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Contents

13 Summary...... 44 14 Fact File...... 45 About Bolton Market...... 45 ‘Love Your Local Market’: What did they do?...... 45 15 Research Approach...... 48 16 Findings...... 49 What did shoppers say?...... 49 What did New Traders say?...... 51 What did Existing Traders say?...... 56 What did shopkeepers say?...... 58 What did market managers say?...... 60 17 Appendices...... 61 Press Coverage...... 61 Bolton Council Evaluation (excerpt)...... 63

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1 Summary

 Bolton Council markets management team was in a strong position to stage a winning LYLM event – and they certainly did so. With an active and well established team and (unlike most markets) a serious promotional budget they were able to set the bar for successful participation in LYLM.  Overall, EVERYBODY interviewed in Bolton (shoppers, traders, new traders, nearby retailers and the market managers) thought the concept of Love Your Local Market (LYLM) was a great idea.  New Traders were supremely positive about the opportunity. They illustrate how Mary Portas’ ‘Table for a Tenner’ tag has been something of a mixed blessing and should be reconsidered : in many markets £10 per day compares unfavourably with the usual pd rate; but here in Bolton some New Traders were so pleased they were prepared to pay more than £20 for their opportunity! The point is that the rent concession is helpful, but is not the only help wanted by New Traders.  The council also worked with Business Enterprise Department of the local college to support the campaign by recruiting new stallholders via their networks, and setting up a stall run by the college providing beauty treatments – a great tip for other markets.  The enthusiasm for the LYLM opportunity is especially strong because of the dearth of opportunities for New Traders to get a chance to trade in the NW.  The location of the New Traders’ stalls in the centre of the town divides opinion. It’s great for footfall for New Traders and creates visibility for the event and Bolton markets but it doesn’t appear to bring people to the main market hall on the edge of the town centre.  Offering existing traders the chance to trade in a new environment alongside New Traders worked well in Bolton, enabling them to taste the same opportunities allocated to New Traders and exposing their offer to a new type of visitor.  Centrally commissioned marketing ‘collateral’ (eg banners, flags, and other promotional merchandising) would keep costs down and give market managers’ easy access to such items without needing to commission their own.  There is so much good practice from this year’s event (and things to improve on) that a ‘Love Your Local Market – Success for 2013 Toolkit’ is a must.  Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate: Bolton Markets did their own evaluation of the day which delivered useful feedback, both positive and areas for improvement.

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2 Fact file

About Bolton and its markets Bolton is about 15 miles North West of Manchester and has a population of around 140,000. In terms of social demographics, its catchment skews towards the C2DE end - although the rural areas around it have more affluent AB residents. Anecdotally stakeholders in the town feel these wealthier residents are more likely to go to Manchester or the Trafford Centre for their shopping and leisure needs.

Bolton has one main market, two district markets (in Farnsworth and Westhoughton) and a farmers market in the town’s Queens Park.

The main Bolton Market is located adjacent to Bolton town centre. It comprises a large market hall plus outdoor pitches with over 300 stalls and 17,000 sq ft of fresh food, fruit and vegetables, Mediterranean delis, local meats and cheeses to the region’s leading outlet for fresh fish.

The market has a growing reputation as the food market in the North West. It was voted 'Best Food Market' at the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards in 2011, and has won a number of other awards in including ‘Best Indoor Retail Market 2010’ from the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) and ‘Tourism Retailer of the Year’ at the Manchester Tourism Awards 2009.

Bolton Market has an on-site cookery demonstration kitchen with a programme of regular cooking events and seasonal food tastings. It is also believed to be the first market nationally to introduce an electronic loyalty card scheme that delivers a discount once customers have spent a certain amount in the market.

A dedicated team run the markets. They are well liked and respected even when traders feel the council should do more in other areas – for example cheaper and more parking being a common request (see ‘Existing Traders’ section later in this report)

Love Your Local Market: What did they do?

Recruiting New Stall Holders The council’s Markets Team used a range of methods to recruit ‘new’ stallholders for Love Your Local Market and ‘Trade for a Tenner’ offers, including offering the chance to existing traders to trade in a different environment. £10 stalls were available in: - Bolton town centre from Saturday 23rd June (Bolton’s launch day) to Friday 29th June.

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- Farnworth on Saturday 30th June - Westhoughton an Saturday 7th July - Queens Park, as part of Bolton’s Local Produce Market on Sunday 24th June.

Bolton recruited new stallholders via: - Its own Twitter feed @BoltonMarkets - Relevant contacts (e.g. Bolton CVS, Bolton Lads & Girls Club, Bolton FM, associated craft bodies e.g. ‘Dolly Bakes’ baker’s blog etc) - PR in the local press - An advert in Market Trade News - An email to the Market Team’s database of contacts (except stallholders) - A notice to existing market traders to attract experienced traders.

Most of the 15 New Traders had already traded at the borough’s existing farmers market, which is held monthly in the town’s Queens Park. However, two traders were completely new to market trading.

The town centre pop-up market launched on the 23rd June and many traded for the full week following, despite the unseasonably poor weather, with the last day of the new stalls being Friday the 29th June. The planned location for the new stalls was to be the town’s grand public space, Victoria Square. But due to a military memorial event on launch day they had to be moved, and subsequently returned to the space for the rest of the week (see right). In keeping with the council’s commitment to make the event high profile they were instead located nearby in Bolton’s main shopping street, Deansgate (see below), home to key stores such as Superdrug, Waterstone’s and Phones4U.

There has been debate locally as to whether this central location is more appropriate for New Traders (because of its high footfall) - or if the New Traders should be located with the main market (see ‘Findings’ section later in this document) to boost footfall and awareness of the market hall.

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15 New Traders participated in Love Your Local Market, offering among other things:

- Artisan beads / jewellery - Handmade soaps and body care products - Cupcakes and other confectionary - Craft stalls – selling handmade cards, key rings, bookmarks etc - Hair and body care products - Jams, chutneys and flavoured oils - Sweets and confectionery - Beauty treatments - Plants and planters - Menswear - Luggage/bags - Hot food and drinks.

The council also worked with the local college and the town’s Business Enterprise Centre to broaden their net for possible New Traders. The college took a stand offering beauty treatments and were also able to demonstrate other courses and how they could link with a career in market trading and entrepreneurship generally.

Promoting Love Your Local Market In spite of the limited time to prepare, Bolton put great energy into organising and promoting their Love Your Local Market campaign. Their campaign ran during the week 23rd June to 7th July. Launch day was Saturday 23rd June with celebrity chef Simon Rimmer cooking fresh produce in the market’s food hall and TV’s Apprentice finalist Adam Corbally speaking about the opportunities markets provide for entrepreneurs. Adam is a North Westerner and started his own business at Glossop Market in the 1990s.

Bolton’s markets team had a serious promotional budget, compared with most participating markets - £10,000 – and put it to good use: - PR to local media that triggered coverage in the Bolton News and Manchester Evening News (see Appendices at the rear of this report). - Paid advertising in the Bolton News. - Coverage on BBC Manchester’s popular Saturday morning ‘Retail Therapy’ programme, broadcast from the event on Saturday June 23rd. - Coverage on Bolton Markets’ website and the Council’s intranet. - Social media exposure via Twitter. - Outdoor poster sites, and posters in local retailers, each of the markets, library etc - A large banner on Victoria Square. - ‘Clean graffiti’ stencil in Bolton town centre and Farnworth Market.

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- Branded kite banners and banners for the pop-up stalls. - Branded staff t-shirts to identify key staff on duty during the event.

Incentive programme for Bolton Market loyalty card holders (sQuid), which included e-shots and SMS text messages with opportunities to win money onto loyalty cards during the campaign, as well as ‘deals of the day’ over the fortnight. A photographer and filmmaker were enlisted to capture images and interviews to help promote the positive impact of the event. The video will also be shared to encourage first time traders and potential sponsors to get involved in the event next year.

3 Research Approach

The research approach was to visit each of the 5 case study locations signposted to us by NABMA (Bolton, Bradford, Fleetwood, Ludlow and Portobello) for a full day. During the day we sought to carry out Depth Interviews of approx 5 minutes duration with at least six New Traders, six with Existing Traders, 15 market shoppers, six nearby shopkeepers, and of course the market manager or managers.

Individual Topics Guides (prompts for discussion) were created for each stakeholder group and extensive notes made in real time during interviews. The style of these Depth Interviews is for researchers to ask open-ended questions and to capture the respondents’ views and comments on relevant topics

Topics Covered included:

 Awareness of Love Your Local Market  Communication of the event  Attitude towards the event  Impact on footfall and turnover  Experience of New Traders  Benefits delivered by the event  Future expectations

The purpose of the ‘Depth Interview’ approach was to glean views and comments from a range of stakeholders of Bolton markets.

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In Bolton we carried out fieldwork during the opening day of their campaign, Saturday June 23rd, interviewing 6 New Traders, 13 Existing Traders, 18 market shoppers, 7 shopkeepers - and the market manager.

Images were captured and video interviews undertaken with key traders, market managers and shoppers where possible and these will be available as part of these published local case studies, and the national report that will sit alongside them.

4 Findings What did shoppers say? We interviewed 16 shoppers at the launch of Bolton’s Love Your Local Market campaign on the 23rd June and this section outlines the findings from these interviewees.

Shoppers were predominantly asked about ‘Love Your Local Market’ – their awareness and impressions of the event and their ideas for improvements if the campaign were to be repeated in 2013, as well as some general comments about Bolton Market.

Awareness of Love Your Local Market Most shoppers had not heard of Love Your Local Market. When prompted by the LYLM logo, only a small number recognised it. However, further prompting revealed that people had some awareness of the Portas Review and could ‘put 2 + 2 together’ and see how this event linked to supporting markets and town centres.

Those who had heard of Love Your Local Market had done so via that morning’s BBC Radio Manchester’s Retail Therapy programme, suggesting local radio as a useful medium for targeting the traditional market shopper (though not necessarily drawing in new shoppers).

A small number of people had seen the PR the council had secured in the run up in the Bolton News, and one referred to a piece on regional TV.

Branding and presence of Love Your Local Market Most people hadn’t noticed anything different. Given that the short notice meant there was only a limited display of LYLM banners at one of the many entrances to the market, this was not surprising.

Inside, the market hall is large so it is easy to miss any branding unless it’s hugely visible. However, the Retail Therapy programme and the cookery demonstration achieved much

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‘Yes, the cooking demo with Simon Rimmer’

‘Yes, the banners and the demo by Simon Rimmer’

‘Yes. The cookery demonstration’

‘Yes. It’s the demonstration [cookery]’

NB. Shopper interviews were undertaken inside the market hall, not near the pop up stalls operated by New Traders, which were located in Deansgate. If interviews had been done near the pop-up market with its LYLM and Bolton Markets branding, then awareness of ‘something different taking place’ may have been much higher.

Impact of Love Your Local Market on footfall Shoppers did not identify LYLM as having a big influence on either footfall or spend in the market, with a typical comment being: ‘It’s always busy here!’

Is ‘Love Your Local Market’ a good idea? Bolton shoppers readily identify the value of the market to their town and readily relate to the concept of Love Your Local Market. That said, they also have plenty of recommendations to enhance the event!

‘Yes. It’s the best market in the UK so we need to celebrate it.’

‘Yes, Bolton Market is brilliant, so anything that we can do to improve it is vital. I come every two weeks.’

‘Yes, particularly for older people - it’s a great place to come and socialise.’

‘Yes, brilliant. It can bring people into town – [LYLM] needs more trumpeting though.’

‘Yes. It’s a great opportunity for stalls to sell more. The only thing is it needs to be bigger on every scale - more events, more advertising etc, maybe something for kids – unless I’ve missed it.’

‘Now I remember – it’s to do with Mary Portas right? Yes let’s get more people using them [markets]. But it needs to be more than one day a year, we need an overhaul, like the market here is great, but the building is old and tired; it needs to be a great retail experience - like Gap or Tesco, but with the charm and individuality of this market’

‘Yes. It’s a brilliant idea. Could do with more excitement though around the outside’

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Future plans for Love Your Local Market Constructive criticism focused on improving awareness via more vigorous marketing and PR, as well as branding the market hall building more effectively.

‘More PR – I hadn’t heard of it till you told me’

‘Better advertising here – it took a while to find Simon Rimmer’

‘More celebration of the markets: stuff outside the main entrance, more flags and banners, people handing out leaflets about what’s on etc. Perhaps something for kids – it’s quite a family place this and that’s missing today’

‘More tasting of products and demonstrations on a regular basis, not just today’

‘Lots of people don’t know about this event or the market, we need to do more to get people to realise what’s in here’

All shoppers agreed that Love Your Local Market should be repeated, with quite a number thinking it should be held more often. Those wanting a more regular Love Your Local Market event split evenly between holding it quarterly and monthly.

What did New Traders say? Of the six new traders interviewed, two were completely new to market trading and the other four had traded at the local Queens Park farmers market and other speciality northern markets.

Of New Traders we were not able to interview there was a high quality cheese trader usually trading in the market hall and who wished to broaden his market. This might be a useful strategy for councils looking to expose their quality offer that is often ‘hidden’ from non- market goers indoors.

The pop-up market for New Traders was intended to run out of the town’s main Victoria Square. But, as noted earlier, it had to be relocated owing to a conflicting event, operating instead out of the main shopping street, which also has high footfall.

Awareness and motivation... Most existing traders were aware of LYLM by way of direct communication from the council or word of mouth at other markets, suggesting this is an important route to traders:

‘Word of mouth at Queens Park local producers market which I trade at’

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Those who had traded previously at the council’s farmers market were persuaded to try the LYLM proposition by the promise of a good trading location and high footfall. The chance to ‘trade for a tenner’ was also a factor - but perhaps less than the opportunity to trade in such a good location:

‘I knew it would be good in this location. Price too’

‘I was thinking about setting up a cupcake business and wanted to test the idea’

Views of the offer and signing up process The easy terms for New Traders, and the support from the council were considered first class. While it may not be a ‘deal breaker’, keeping it simple adds to the ease of trading, and in this regard Bolton’s approach could be regarded as good practice by other markets.

‘Easy. It’s well organised, just like everything the council’s markets team does’

‘Easy, well organised: the council staff is great’

All traders were happy, which is not surprising at £10 per day to trade in such a busy market. In fact, some traders with an established product actually felt they would be prepared to pay more, say between £20 and £40. So £10 is ideal to tempt true virgin traders, but with regard to those trading on an ongoing basis elsewhere, it may be possible to increase revenue with a slightly higher stall rental.

‘Yes, I’d probably have paid between £20 and £40 for today. I’ll give you an example: at Chester Food Festival it was £350 for 3 days! Now that was good, but not that good’

Support for New Traders None of the New Traders interviewed had heard of NMTF’s ‘First Pitch’ initiatives so had not taken it up. This may be an area where councils and the NMTF can link more effectively to provide support to New Traders for a future LYLM event.

Concept of Love Your Local Market All New Traders were positive about LYLM. Here, the new breed of trader appears able to present their product more attractively, and to have a more commercial and customer focused approach, often seeing market trading as only one outlet for their offer and brand.

‘It’s a great concept well delivered.’

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‘It’s a great idea. It helps those producing a bespoke artisan product to compete, at least to get off the ground, against mass produced products of the chain stores’

‘Yes, it can bring trade in as there are lots of empty shops – why not get traders into those shops on a rotating basis? I know there would be insurance issues, but all the same it would fill them up and bring diversity to the town centre!’

Impact on footfall in the market Like shoppers and existing traders in the market hall, New Traders were uncertain if LYLM had made a difference to footfall. It was difficult make a judgement because the row of back-to- back stalls in Deansgate created a funnel effect, which gave the impression of a very busy location

That said, it was clear that the LYLM initiative had brought the street to life, and that by continuing a market there (whether as part of LYLM or via a Bolton Council initiative), there is the potential to energise the street and create an attraction:

‘It seems busier but that might just be because with the stalls in the middle here it funnels everybody in front of you’

‘To get more families involved, they could do what they do at Congleton Food Festival. There they give kids a card, you know like one you would get at Café Nero, and they have to go round and collect something from each stall – so they get a bit of bread, a cake, or a slice of soap from each and get a stamp from each trader that participates – it keeps the kids interested, makes it more interactive, and that might make it more family oriented and encourage more parents to dwell longer’

‘I think the publicity they [Bolton MBC] got on BBC Manchester this morning was great and probably will get a lot of people down here who didn’t know about it’

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Impact on New Traders’ sales This was the area where New Traders were really enthusiastic. Crucially, all had done better than expected by the end of the launch day and were even more enthusiastic than on our arrival in the morning.

But the real difference is that these traders, both brand new and new to this space, do not have enough opportunities to trade either in Bolton or across the North West, so any opportunity is a chance to make money and to make their business more sustainable.

‘Yes, I would not have been trading today otherwise’

‘Opportunities to trade are really limited in the North West’

‘I’ve done much better than I expected’

‘There was a real mix of people through here’

‘I’ve done much better than I expected – I’d sold 5 [t-shirts] at £10 by 11am!’

‘Yes, I would have been sat at home otherwise because there aren’t other opportunities for me to sell’

Ideas for enhancement Overall New Traders were entirely positive about their LYLM experience, asking only for more vigorous marketing and publicity for the fact that the location had been moved from Victoria Square. That said, by the end of the day, New Traders were so pleased with the trade that this was no longer an issue.

‘The only thing I would say is that it was due to be in Victoria Square and that would probably have been even better. But here’s still great too’

‘I would also suggest more social media marketing – getting onto Twitter etc. A number of us more adventurous, newer traders are on Twitter and can use that to re-tweet and promote the event for free on behalf of the Council’

‘The event as a whole needs to be better promoted. Nobody I know knew anything about it’

‘Needs more advertising and marketing’

Impact of Love Your Local Market on the market and town centre New Traders firmly believed that the event, particularly if held more often, could be a valuable addition to any town centre, Bolton and others like it. This is particularly true for those ‘under the cosh’ from recession : by adding something unique that compliments the existing day-in-day-out retail offer, LYLM brings a new dimension to the town centre offer. (The ‘Smoothie Bike’ pictured here is a good example)

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‘Yes, it can offer something new and different to the chain shops. It adds value to what is an otherwise fairly ordinary town centre’

‘Yes, it may bring people in who wouldn’t normally come to the town centre and that’s effectively driving tourism and the town really needs that!’

‘People like homemade things and we need to support those who can sell them and make them’

‘Yes, there are more people lingering here in this part of the town centre. Not sure if that means more footfall but it’s really creating a buzz and it’s something different for a weekend when it would normally be the same old shops’

Repeating Love Your Local Market All traders wanted LYLM to become more than a once a year event, whilst acknowledging that over-repetition would devalue the uniqueness of the event, trader opinion splitting evenly between wishing for monthly and quarterly repetition.

‘Yes, quarterly. Not more frequently as it may lose its appeal’

‘It’s a great idea. Because it’s in the town centre [as opposed to the market itself] it gets New Traders out in front of the paying public and here Deansgate has great footfall’

‘Yes, it brings people out and together at the heart of the community; to interact with other people - both traders and customers. And you get an experience which is nothing like a mainstream store or supermarket. There aren’t many opportunities for that kind of thing anymore and it’s important’

‘Yes, maybe quarterly or even monthly. People keep asking ‘When will we see you again?’ and I say not here because it’s yearly, but they can find me every month at the Queens Park farmers market, so it is providing an alternative way of raising the profile of that market’

Follow up...

Three months after the close of LYLM we made contact again with the traders who attended Bolton’s ‘Trade for a Tenner’ event. Of the six that were contactable, all but one were still trading. Of the completely new traders two of the three were still trading, and their comments follow below:

‘It was a really good event [LYLM]. We have expanded since the [Love Your Local] market event. We are now doing locations across the North and the wider UK too. We are also trading online now. I think that you have to have every avenue covered in our business. The challenge is in getting more of those type of events running on a consistent basis’

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‘Without more of this kind of event, there will be limited opportunities for our kind of businesses [unique cosmetic products] because it doesn’t work in conventional markets. We need a more aspirational clientele and there aren’t enough of those at traditional markets; certainly not up here’

‘I can’t say it was the thing that made the businesses, but without it, we might not be here in October. We did so well that wee, it encouraged us to think that there was demand for our products. Without that we might have just given up. Since then we have gone on to selling on a number of other markets, not just in Bolton’

Case study: Sweet Dreams

Siobhan Mates from the Cupcake Creationz bakes and retails exquisite cakes. She tells us how Love Your Local Market was the perfect catalyst.

‘I’m still trading and selling my cupcakes and creating new ones all the time. I did the Bolton Food Festival this year as a step on from Love Your Local Market and had an amazing time there too. I did really well.

Love Your Local Market was my first market and without that I would have probably started but I’m not sure where – it came at the perfect time. The enthusiasm from people who saw my stall for the first time really took me back. It’s just getting in front of the right people.

I moved onto Bury Market for a few months and worked from there, however it was difficult and didn't take off so I’m back to trading on the Bolton Markets. I have also set up doing office cupcake runs to call centres, which is another avenue that is doing well.

For the future I want to do Love Your Local Market again and farmers markets, as well as building the delivery business’

What did Existing Traders say? Six existing traders were interviewed, five in the covered market and one outside, covering a range of offers from herbal medicines to poultry, and Asian party clothes to home wares. About half of existing traders in Bolton Market were aware of the LYLM event, with the council’s markets team the main source of knowledge.

‘Became aware via a leaflet from the markets team’

‘Never heard of it’

In spite of many issues with the town centre and the market itself, existing traders wholeheartedly pay tribute to the efficiency of the Market Team staff themselves. On balance existing traders also regard LYLM as a positive development

‘The market is the jewel of the town centre and is vibrant, despite the boarded up shops throughout Bolton town centre’

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‘In theory it’s a good idea’

‘It’s crucial to provide an opportunity for small businesses. They pay people locally and keep money local much more so than supermarkets’

Impact on footfall in the market Generally existing traders were not confident they could attribute any increase in footfall to LYLM; though one trader located close to the cookery demonstration did feel they were busier on the day.

‘No difference for me’

‘It does seem busier round our stall, definitely, maybe by 5 to 10%. It’s hard to tell but I think it’s to do with having the chef [Simon Rimmer], next to us doing the demonstrations – it really seems to help that’

Attitude towards New Traders In common with attitudes around the country, existing traders expressed themselves happy to have new traders in the market – so long they don’t have directly competing offers. Most traders appreciate that new offers will draw new shoppers into a market, to everyone’s benefit. Only one existing trader on June 23rd was entirely hostile to the idea of support for New Traders.

‘Yes, as long as they are not competing’

‘Bring them up here! They are in the town centre and we need them up here so people then come and see us afterwards’

‘They [Bolton Markets] are happy to promote new people but not existing market traders and it takes away from existing market traders. We would be happy for them [Bolton Market] to promote genuinely new people who do not compete’

Repeating and enhancing Love Your Local Market Ideas for enhancement of LYLM focused on more vigorous marketing:

‘There needs to be much more marketing for it and a higher profile if it’s to have any impact at all’

‘Two banners is a waste of time’ All existing traders interviewed believed it would be worthwhile to continue LYLM and to restage it in future years:

‘Yes. Every couple of months in fact’

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‘Interestingly Tuesdays and Thursdays are better than Saturdays for us. Yet that doesn’t seem right with the amount of people in the town centre being generally higher on a Saturday…Let’s get this [LYLM] on more often!’

Long-term impact on the market and town centre Like shoppers, most traders feel that LYLM’s impact in the longer term on the town centre or the market depends on stepping up both frequency and profile. That said there was general acknowledgement that LYLM is a welcome start.

‘It’s tough for everyone right now with the recession, so anybody who is able to help drive footfall at markets will be embraced with open arms’

What did shopkeepers say? Our interview team talked with shopkeepers adjacent to the market, three located near to the pop-up stalls in the town centre, and three next to the main market hall.

None of the retailers near the main market hall had heard about Love Your Local Market. However, all of those near the pop up New Trader stalls were aware of the event, simply because it was so visible from their shops.

‘Saw the stalls outside and the Bolton Markets branding’

‘Saw it outside’

Invariably all retailers interviewed regarded Love Your Local Market as a good idea, recognising that the new offers introduced by LYLM is able to draw visitors into the area.

‘Yes, it’s a great idea’

‘More promotion, needed, but the stalls here are great – not the stuff you would normally associate with old fashioned markets - you know cupcakes, soap, cool t-shirts and so on – really good’

Impact on footfall and sales in the area Most shopkeepers interviewed by us regarded June 23rd as a typically busy Saturday – but no more than usual. Only one retailer felt it might be busier (near the pop-up market stalls in the centre of the town rather than at the main market hall).

‘It does seem busier but I wonder if that’s because of the additional stalls creating a more funnelled and compressed effect in the space?’

Not surprisingly shopkeepers found it difficult to say whether or not the LYLM event was making any impact on sales in their stores, with a conclusion about 50/50 either way.

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Repeating and growing Love Your Local Market All shopkeepers interviewed were supportive of the market, with those adjacent to it particularly concerned that investment and modernisation should take place to attract a new generation of visitors - and importantly maintaining footfall past their shops. Their immediate instinct was to support LYLM, seeing it as a route to bring innovation and investment into the market.

‘Yes. It’s good, but not sure it is physically well connected enough to the town centre – could this be more so? Is that part of the plans for refurbishing it that I’ve heard about?’

‘Yes. It’s a great place to shop but it seems to be for older people. Could it offer more stuff for younger people? It also needs to be cooler. Young people are used to shopping in Topman or drinking coffee in Starbucks. Why not make it more stylish while retaining its atmosphere?’

‘More demonstrations and more events. For example, we are near the market – one of our doors opens onto it. Why not get us doing demonstrations in the market or just outside – knitting, weaving etc. It would be fantastically popular with the children and parents – making it a family day out’

‘The market is a real community place and I think we need to see it as more than just a place to come and buy food or home things. Rather a destination in the town centre – somewhere where there is always something going on – demonstrations, entertainment etc’

‘It isn’t as busy as it used to be and it’s critical for our business, because so many people stop here on their way there or back into town’

‘It really brings people up here from down in the town. Also more than three days a week, we are much busier when market days are on’

‘We also need to sell the market on its personality, friendly personalised service, and the variety, not just the value for money aspect. That’s important but it’s not enough to be cheap – that only caters to a certain market and we need a broader range of people here, people who are looking for something ‘authentic’, and is different to what you can get on the High Street’ As with other Bolton stakeholders, shopkeepers all wanted LYLM to be repeated, promoting it more vigorously and building it up into a bigger event:

‘More promotion – more of an event’

‘Yes, great idea but it needs more investment in the promotion, banners. A lot more!’

And in common with other stakeholders there was a desire for more active promotion and marketing of the event.

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‘More advertising. I can put posters up in my shop’

‘Not sure what is going on – there are these stalls outside but is there anything else – I might go to something in my lunch break if I knew what was on’

What did market managers say? Bolton Council maintains a strong and well regarded market management team, and we were able to interview all key members. All had put a huge amount of effort in at short notice and were very positive about the event and the work of NABMA and other partners in getting Love Your Local Market off the ground at short notice.

Uniquely in our experience, Bolton Council carried out their own survey of market shoppers to evaluate the success of LYLM in their town. An excerpt from that piece of work is included as an Appendix to this Case Study.

Key points to emerge from our discussion with the management team were:

 More notice to allow for better planning for next year’s event!

 A centralised source of merchandising (provided by NABMA on behalf of participating markets) for e.g. kite banners, t-shirts, badges. The thinking is that this would reduce costs by providing for bulk buying, and provide participating markets with an easy source of good promotional materials

 There was good national coverage – well done! But a few tweets from Mary Portas and an interview on national TV / radio on the day by her would have made a major impact on the success of the fortnight, especially those markets with launch days on the 23rd. This comment is not directly concerned with Mary Portas but more a recommendation for the DCLG / NABMA led programme to secure this sort of participation from her as part of a future 2013 contract with her.

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 They ask for a ‘Making YOUR Love Your Local Market a Success’ toolkit for 2013, a sort of Best Practice manual, drawing on the best of what has happened this year and lessons from locations like Bolton.

 They were positive that NABMA had signed up more than 300 markets, a good base to build on for next year.

 Bolton Council, even at this early stage, has confirmed they will be staging the event again next year, regardless of decisions at national level. 5 Appendices Press Coverage

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Bolton Council Evaluation (excerpt)

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Love Your Local Market 2012 Impact of the event in Portobello & Golborne Market

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Contents

1 Summary...... 69 2 Fact File...... 70 About Portobello and Golborne Market...... 70 ‘Love Your Local Market’: What did they do?...... 71 3 Research Approach...... 72 4 Findings...... 73 What did shoppers say?...... 73 What did New Traders say?...... 74 What did Existing Traders say?...... 76 What did shopkeepers say?...... 78 What did market managers say?...... 78 5 Appendices...... 82

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1 Summary

 New Traders at Portobello and Golborne Markets are very positive about the experience of Love Your Local Market initiative. They appreciate the opportunity to trial their products at this world famous market.

 The learning experience at this market was a ‘two way street’ - existing traders have learned from New Traders as well as vice versa –and this phenomenon is recognised and valued by the market management team.

 New Traders sometimes show better skills of displaying their offer and communicating with customers than historic traders. They decorate their stalls distinctively and have plans to create their brand. They are energetic and imaginative in publicising not just their offer, but also Portobello Market in social media.

 New Traders ask that Love Your Local Market should be more vigorously promoted, at the least with banners and a promotional stall in the market. They want the new offers introduced under LYLM to be promoted via the market website.

 There is a realisation among New Traders that LYLM is a message that can reach throughout the year, not just for 2 weeks, a sentiment that is shared by the market management team. Unusually they have continued to produce LYLM branded promotional items well into 2012.

 Existing Traders are mostly aware of LYLM and have a positive attitude to it, recognising that new and different traders will attract more customers. That said, they do not believe that either footfall or sales have benefited from LYLM in 2012; in this respect though it must be relevant that Portobello is an outdoor market and traditionally very much weather dependent.

 Neither Shoppers nor Shopkeepers have a high level of awareness about Love Your Local Market - but when the concept is introduced they warm to it.

 LYLM 2012 was a low key event in Portobello and Golborne Markets, with no publicity visible in the market during the event, and no leaflets, banners, or logo visible in the market during our fieldwork visit.

 Nonetheless the event has been judged to be a success locally and market management have already announced their participation in 2013 and are already making plans.

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2 Fact file

About Portobello and Golborne Market The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London is one of the best places to shop in the capital, with much to offer beyond the typical high street. The Council manages two adjacent markets:

Portobello Road Market is one of the most famous markets in the world, renowned for its antiques and vintage fashion. Nearby Golborne Road Market features food stalls during the week and has busy second hand and bric-a-brac sections at the weekend. These iconic markets cater to three different groups of visitor: locals, West Londoners, - and the Rest of the World!

Portobello Road Market has three different markets on one site. The Portobello Road street market operates mainly on Saturdays. The antiques section at the southern end of the market is the UK’s biggest antiques market. The new goods, and fruit and vegetable section in the centre of the market, which operates Monday to Saturday has lots of hot food stalls on Saturdays. The vintage clothing section at the northern end of the market is world-renowned as a fashion source. The full market on Saturdays offers an aggregate of over 200 sites and is a big tourist attraction. Golborne Road has its own market all week and a concentration of Caribbean, Algerian, Moroccan and Portuguese restaurants and shops. During the week it is a food market, which on Saturdays is complemented by second-hand traders. The area also hosts a number of privately operated markets. The Love Your Local Market initiative effectively opened up one of the world’s most iconic markets to starry-eyed aspiring traders and retailers – and they have appreciated the opportunity.

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Love Your Local Market: What did they do? As part of the LYLM campaign, 200 one-day sites were made available at Portobello and Golborne market from 23 June to 7 July 2012. The sites were offered for a special price of just £10 per day, including temporary street trading license, pitch, insurance for the day, and provision of a stand. Pitches were in both Golborne and Portobello Roads, and split across the fortnight with 20 sites per day Monday to Wednesday, 30 sites on Friday and 10 sites on Saturday. New traders were asked to register for the scheme at least one week before the day they wishes to trade on.

To announce the event the market used the following channels:

- Market’s regular newsletter to traders - Council website rbkc.gov.uk/visit website - Leaflets in Street Trading Office - Facebook - Twitter - Other council run websites - Area meetings with traders - Press releases - Radio interviews with BBC London - Residents panels - Documents such as Guide to Markets - Shop Portobello Road and Golborne Road website runs by traders.

57 aspiring entrepreneurs tried their hand at market trading on a total of 100 Portobello and Golborne Road market pitches – which we believe is the highest New Trader count of any participating market.

On 7 July 2012, to celebrate the conclusion of the UK's first-ever national Love Your Local Market fortnight, a special free family screening of the Disney classic Bedknobs and Broomsticks was hosted by the Portobello Pop Up Digital Microplex cinema.

The market made an immediate commitment to support the 2013 event.

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3 Research Approach

The research approach was to visit each of our 5 case study locations signposted to us by NABMA (Bolton, Bradford, Fleetwood, Ludlow and Portobello) for a full day. During the day we sought to carry out Depth Interviews of approx 5 minutes duration with at least six New Traders, six with Existing Traders, 15 market shoppers, six nearby shopkeepers, and of course the market manager or managers.

Individual Topics Guides (prompts for discussion) were created for each stakeholder group and extensive notes made in real time during interviews. The style of these Depth Interviews is for researchers to ask open-ended questions and to capture the respondents’ views and comments on relevant topics.

Topics Covered included:

 Awareness of Love Your Local Market  Communication of the event  Attitude towards the event  Impact on footfall and turnover  Experience of New Traders  Benefits delivered by the event  Future expectations

At Portobello and Golborne Market we carried out fieldwork during Friday June 29th, the mid- point of LYLM 2012. Our team exceeded targets, interviewing 14 New Traders, 11 Existing Traders, 16 market shoppers, 7 shopkeepers - and the market manager.

Images were captured and video interviews undertaken with key traders, market managers and shoppers where possible and these will be available as part of these published local case studies, and the national report that will sit alongside them.

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4 Findings What did shoppers say? Shoppers had a low level of awareness of the Love Your Local Market initiative – even failing to recognise the logo when it was shown to them. Some had however noticed new stalls in the market.

When the concept of LYLM is introduced shoppers invariably regard it as a good scheme, hoping it will inject new variety in the market. They want to see new products and unique items and hope LYLM will deliver these aspirations. They also recognise the place of the market in supporting the local community and welcome LYLM’s part in that equation

‘Good for people growing their own and making their own stuff’

‘It is exciting. I would love to see new products. Market shopping is a personal thing, it’s interactive. You talk one to one to the trader, you chat and laugh. It is definitely more sociable. You feel you are supporting local shopping and the local community’

Restaging Love Your Local Market Shoppers agree that LYLM should be repeated at least once a year, or more often. But they insist it needs to be advertised widely to the public, naming Time Out magazine, internet advertising, and around the tube station as suitable media.

‘Love Your Local Market needs more marketing, especially around the tube station. The name works but you should explain it more’

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‘Market trading and shopping is affordable especially in the current climate. It definitely needs more promotion to get more traders and people on board’

‘Make it easier for people to run stalls, make more stalls available’

What did New Traders say? Of the 14 New Traders interviewed, six were completely new to trading and others had traded in different markets before but first time in Portobello and Golborne Market. They had heard about LYLM through the market website and some of them from the street trading office.

New Traders were very happy to have an opportunity to trade and trial products and formats in a world famous market. The discounted pitch fee is a magnet and New Traders very happy about it.

‘I had initially applied to Portobello, always wanted to sell there, this was a great opportunity’

‘I have never traded in West London before; it’s a very diverse and important market. I wanted to test and to see how well it does’

Signing up… They found the signing up experience easy and straightforward. None of them had taken up any support initiatives, and in fact were not aware that any were available.

‘The signing up was much easier than I thought it would be’

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Benefits… They recognise the opportunity provided by Love Your Local Market in giving a chance to New Traders and entrepreneurs to trial demand for their products and experience retail trading without large costs or ongoing commitments. It also allowed them to get a pitch in Portobello which is normally very difficult.

‘LYLM is encouraging, especially in times of austerity. The High Street is dying and there is a gap in the market for something new. Market stalls have no overhead commitments like shop rental, so they are good for traders and shoppers. It’s a win-win situation’

‘Very good and worthwhile - provides a really useful 'taster' and something to build on’

‘LYLM is an excellent concept, very helpful to entrepreneurs and New Traders’

‘The event promotes entrepreneurs, gives experience and helps them decide what to do. It helps them to get in tune with the demand of the local market’

Communicating LYLM ‘It is a very good concept but needs to be promoted more. I live around the corner and have not seen anything about it. I heard it from a friend. They don’t need to have a big budget for communication. They could open a stall and put posters and leaflets on it. They could use existing traders and the market itself to communicate it’

Follow up… Follow up interviews conducted by phone in early October, three months after the close of LYLM 2012, revealed that New Traders have benefited from the opportunity, with 6 of them continuing to trade in Portobello, and some continuing in other markets. Others had stopped trading for a range of reasons – including personal reasons.

‘I sell to various coffee-shops and take individual orders via my website, but I definitely see market trading as a vital part of my business plan. I'm hoping to get something more regular in the New Year - preferably on Portobello, but if not I'll be looking at other sites’

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‘I hope that by next year I will be more established and won't need to participate in LYLM again, but I would certainly recommend it to anyone considering market trading, or who wants to trial their products’

‘We tested the product in Portobello during LYLM so it was very helpful to get feedback about the product and perfect it. Even if we start to sell in retailers in huge quantities we will continue standing in markets. This is where you can be face to face with customers. You see their verbal and non-verbal feedback to the product. Even if they are not buying, shoppers in markets are giving great feedback which could help to change your product, learn the best way to sell your products. Markets are a really good barometer of interest. And it is low cost to try! So I would recommend being in markets even more’

What did Existing Traders say? Almost all Existing Traders interviewed were aware of LYLM. It was announced in the market’s regular and via A4 posters & flyers from the street office.

Existing Traders all think it is a good initiative, promoting markets and bringing in new people and encouraging New Traders.

‘Good idea, it enhances the image of the market’

‘Good idea, we could do with some unique stalls to improve the market’

Existing Traders don’t believe it had an impact on sales in the market. Although many believed the market was busier LYLM, the majority believe that footfall was not changed.

Attitude towards New Traders Overwhelmingly, Existing Traders say they welcome New Traders. They believe having more stalls and wider variety is good and can bring new shoppers to the market. That said, they don’t expect New Traders to provide direct competition by selling the same goods as Existing Traders.

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‘There are more people, more colours, and more products. It’s good to have them here’

‘There is not as much enthusiasm in the market as there was before and New Traders can bring that’

However, Existing Traders are not sure about the long-term effects of LYLM.

‘I support these initiatives but I’m not sure what will change’

‘I can see it impacting 'local' local markets but not this one, this is not an old fashioned market town here, so no one is interested in protecting the local economy’

Restaging Love Your Local Market Existing Traders are firmly in favour of Love Your Local Market being repeated annually - or maybe even twice per year, once in summer and once pre-Christmas to boost trade. They are also asking for more and more effective promotion of LYLM, but also of the market itself.

‘It should be more heavily promoted, and definitely be an annual event’

‘We are not getting the volume of people we should have. We should attract more locals and to do that we need new stalls that would attract local people’

‘Promote Portobello more. Promoting Fridays as market day would be good too’

‘Vehicles driving through should be stopped especially on Fridays and Saturdays. We should have proper ads communicating that the market is on during the week’

Reviving town centres Some of these West London shoppers are well aware of current social issues and quickly identify how markets can put the heart back into town centres.

‘I want places without chain stores. I like local shops and markets’

‘You feel you don't belong to anywhere anymore. The High Street is dying and we are losing the community feeling. We had community centres now they are closed; libraries are closing. There is no sense of community anymore. Markets have an important place in making us feel like a local community. I totally support any initiative that supports them’

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What did shopkeepers say? Shopkeepers adjacent to Portobello and Golborne Markets were not aware of the Love Your Local Market initiative, and nor had they noticed any change in footfall or sales.

However, when the concept is explained to them, shopkeepers endorse the objectives. They welcome any support or investment in the market and believe that New Traders will attract more visitors.

‘Yes, a good idea to get people to shop. Shouldn't have [adverse] impact on shops though’

Restaging Love Your Local Market Shopkeepers too support a continuation of LYLM – again with the caveat that it deserves to be more vigorously promoted.

‘It should be repeated but it should be promoted more widely. Try to do it in a quieter period to give a boost’

‘Love Your Local Market should definitely be repeated. Maybe create more noise about it, by people announcing it, by signs on the street, and posters in shops’

What did market managers say? Nicholas Kasic, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Markets Manager believes on balance that Love Your Local Market has been a successful and worthwhile venture. Even before the event finished they had decided to support it next year.

‘A National Market Day is a good idea as it is useful to have a focused day. Markets have been pushed to create events out of nothing, so if we have one national event it’s easier to link things together. Supporting events under one banner was handy and Love Your Local Market

78 is a nice, powerful message. It is simple, straightforward and it can be put in various places. I think they should hold on to that message’

With more time at their disposal, the markets’ managers see a bigger potential next year. They were not able to boost the profile of the event this year as in London it fell in the hangover period between The Diamond Jubilee and London 2012. They didn’t have the time or capacity to launch into another kind of celebration.

‘We’ve already talked about next year and the desire to up the game in terms of how we promote the event – because, in spite of limited promotion, we had so many people come along to join us. We’re quite happy. We’ve got some new fresh traders who are interested in promoting the market and being part of the market family, which makes us interested in actually going further, and being supportive of any future initiatives.

We have used LYLM to create a map of the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea markets. We’ve linked up with the private markets in the area. That is something that LYLM has pushed us towards. This means next year we will be able to do different things’

Impact on footfall ‘I’m not sure if LYLM has increased footfall or sales in the market. The weather is a very important factor. Yesterday was a glorious day, and today grey sky. It changes the footfall. Westfield [a covered shopping centre] is our biggest neighbour, so naturally on a day like this unless you’ve got dedicated shoppers, others are going to go elsewhere’

Schemes offered Market managers here recognised what New Traders in other places were telling us: that, although they welcome the ‘trade for a tenner’ concession it isn’t enough on its own to ensure their continuation as traders. They are asking for practical help and training with the new experience of market trading.

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‘The market offered 200 outside pitches at £10 which covers the cost of the table and insurance. If they stay on as traders into the future they don’t need to pay the registration fee again. It provides a very cheap and quick way to enter the system. We allowed New Traders to try both Portobello and Golborne markets as they are quite different. We provided the NABMA handbook that gives information on getting started and gave our New Traders certificates and asked for their feedback’

The future… They believe it should be an annual event and the late June timing, with schools still open and before go on holiday, is right.

‘Markets are topical and we need to maintain that. If it doesn’t continue as an annual event we are going to spend a lot of time and effort creating it, working on it. Managers like myself are already thinking what to do next year. So there is no point in stopping it. At least next year we won’t have the Olympics and Jubilee so we will actually be able to channel more energy into LYLM’

They believe that events like Love your Local Market provide a hook for other initiatives to link onto, rather than trying to create other stand-alone events. In the future LYLM could link with local schools, and with Portobello Road’s 150th anniversary, and so on.

For 2013 Portobello and Golborne Road Markets have proposed three specific enhancements:

NABMA to buy standard promotional materials like balloons, t-shirts, banners, and posters in bulk on behalf of all participating markets; a ‘getting started’ booklet focusing on market trading could also be purchased centrally for distribution; broaden the spectrum of celebrity endorsement and appearance, attracting TV stars, chefs, and other celebrities.

Engage more effectively with the media to create wider media exposure

‘Having Ministers’ support was nice but does that inspire visitors? We need to get more effective coverage to sell being a street trader and shopping in markets. Getting celebrities such as TV stars saying ‘I love my market’ is important’

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Of 57 New Traders introduced via Love Your Local Market, three were still trading in Portobello and Golborne Markets when we made follow-up interviews in September and early October 2012. Some traders were not allowed to continue trading on a permanent basis because their products were already offered in the market. For example it is very difficult to offer new food lines, as virtually everything is already offered in these markets. New Traders wanting to offer food lines were advised of the position when signing up for LYLM.

Next year management plan to offer the same number of pitches or maybe even more, with fuller communication of the offer commencing with an announcement in early January. Communication plans include use of local press, promotional stands in the market, banners & posters. They are talking with Hammersmith and Fulham Council to secure their support for 2013, and to tie in other council promoted events into LYLM 2013.

‘We are planning to start the process earlier to allow people to prepare for it. We hope to make announcements in January and persuade people to make a New Year’s resolution: ‘I will try my own business.’

Management have a clear view that for 2013 the National Markets Day label initially used by Mary Portas should give way to promotion solely under the Love Your Local Market tag.

‘Using one message is better. Instead of National Markets Day and LYLM use only one. It will be a clearer message and the same everywhere. The heart symbol is liked by everyone.’

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5 Appendices

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Note: Some photos are taken from the www.shopportobello.co.uk website and may not been cleared for publishing.

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Love Your Local Market 2012 Impact of the event in Fleetwood and Poulton-le-Fylde Markets

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Contents

18 Summary...... 86 19 Fact File...... 87 About Fleetwood and Poulton-le-Fylde Markets...... 87 ‘Love Your Local Market’: What did they do?...... 88 20 Research Approach...... 89 21 Findings...... 89 What did shoppers say?...... 89 What did New Traders say?...... 92 What did Existing Traders say?...... 97 What did shopkeepers say?...... 99 What did market managers say?...... 100 22 Appendices...... 103

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1 Summary

 In Fleetwood we found that all local stakeholders had a very keen awareness of the importance of the market in providing opportunities for work experience and making money. Many shoppers and visitors are former or potential market traders.

 Amongst many competing stories, the recent revival of Poulton-le-Fylde market is widely credited with reviving the fortunes of town, bringing a new generation of shopper into the town, and countering the initial scepticism of some local shopkeepers, who have ultimately been beneficiaries of the market’s revival.

 Both markets are run by Wyre Council via its Markets manager, Julian Brent, who fights their corner with great energy and innovation. Traders across the board recognise his assistance and support.

 Julian set out very ambitious targets for his markets’ participation in LYLM, which, with the weather against him, may have not have been achieved.

 He is keen his markets should support LYLM again in 2013 and puts forward inventive and challenging ideas for the event, particularly calling for producers and wholesalers to support New Traders through LYLM by making stock available on special terms.

 Three months after the event only three out of about 30 New Traders were still trading in Fleetwood, a high attrition rate. We wonder if a bigger proportion would have continued if they had been provided with better equipment, and a location providing some cover from the very poor weather.

 New Traders had only a sketchy knowledge of LYLM. There was confusion between concessions offered under LYLM and what was typically offered to any New Trader.

 New Traders were appreciative of support provided to them informally by the Market Management team – but there was no knowledge of schemes available from NMTF and other official sources. Unusually a local business bureau provides a short course for retail entrepreneurs which one trader had taken up and found to be valuable. Maybe this link between market traders and commercial business training is one that might usefully be developed – with minimal cost to the public purse.

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2 Fact file

About Fleetwood and Poulton-le-Fylde Market

Fleetwood Fact File Fleetwood is a town within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England. It had a population of 26,840 people at the 2001 census.

Fleetwood has three prominent retail locations. Lord Street and Freeport Fleetwood opened in 1995 (re-branded and re-launched in 2006) as a waterfront shopping village. Fleetwood Market on Victoria Street is one of the largest covered markets in the North West, with over 250 stalls. It was first opened in 1840, although the present stone building dates from 1892.

Fleetwood Market is recognised as central to the fortunes of the town. Following the closure of the Fish Docks, the large market is the biggest single source of employment in the town. Although its fortunes are clearly much reduced from its best days it is still well supported by locals for good value shopping and as the town’s main social centre. Importantly it is also a feature of many holidays in Blackpool, just half an hour away by coach or tram. A large proportion of market visitors come by the coach load from Blackpool, and elderly shoppers, some of them disabled, make up a large proportion of those browsing around the stalls.

The style of the market is a large general market, with household and clothing lines very well represented. Fresh produce, especially fruit and veg. and fish, is surprisingly sparse.

Wyre Council’s markets are managed by their Markets Manager.

Fleetwood Market is a very large covered market, which in busy times is able to accommodate additional traders in an open asphalted area at the side of the market.

Unfortunately for them, some LYLM New Traders were offered pitches in the open area, which meant they were doomed to a bad day. In the poor weather very few people ventured outside, and these New Traders, poorly equipped for trading outside in bad weather, got a soaking. One, arriving for his first ever market trading experience, had no equipment beyond the trestle provided by the market: no cover, no branding, no display nothing to dress his stall whatever. Well located indoor pitches were found for some New Traders and they had a successful day.

Poulton-le-Fylde Fact File Poulton-le-Fylde is a market town in Lancashire located to the East of Blackpool, with a population of 18,264 recorded in the 2011 census. Poulton is the administrative centre of the Borough of Wyre, with good rail links to Blackpool and Preston, and bus routes to the larger towns and villages of the Fylde area. The historic market had fallen into decline, before being revived by Wyre Council in 2011. Initially a

87 monthly farmers’ market was started, with a weekly market on Mondays located in the town centre following from October 2011.

Poulton town centre has been a Conservation Area since 1979. In 2004 a group appointed by Wyre Council carried out the Poulton Market Town Initiative to identify economic, environmental, and social strengths and weaknesses of the town. The market place at the centre of Poulton is the width of two streets and is now closed to motor traffic. Lying south of St Chad's Church and surrounded by shops, the square contains the town's war memorial as well as a market cross, stocks, whipping post and fish slabs, from which fish were sold on market days.

As a weekly general market, it transforms the town centre into a hive of activity on market days. There is generous parking provision in the town centre for market shoppers, with car parks, on-street parking, and short stay bays all available. The revival of a market in the centre of Poulton was initially viewed with suspicion by some town centre shopkeepers, but is now widely regarded as the catalyst for the restoration of Poulton as a thriving retail town, benefitting shoppers and shopkeepers, as well as market traders.

Love Your Local Market: What did they do? Wyre Council was an early supporter of the LYLM initiative and has been a determined and ambitious supporter. Any limitations on its participation are likely due to the short time to prepare for LYLM in 2012, and to the meagre resource available in relation to the number of market days.

It appears that LYLM was well promoted in and around the Wyre and Blackpool areas via a spectrum of local and regional channels including: - Banners - Local press - Local radio - Regional commercial television

There was good awareness of LYLM among all stakeholder groups, with impact recalled from regional TV, radio, and the local press.

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3 Research Approach

The research approach was to visit each of our 5 case study locations signposted to us by NABMA (Bolton, Bradford, Fleetwood, Ludlow and Portobello) for a full day. During the day we sought to carry out Depth Interviews of approx 5 minutes duration with at least six New Traders, six with Existing Traders, 15 market shoppers, six nearby shopkeepers, and of course the market manager or managers.

Individual Topics Guides (prompts for discussion) were created for each stakeholder group and extensive notes made in real time during interviews. The style of these Depth Interviews is for researchers to ask open-ended questions and to capture the respondents’ views and comments on relevant topics.

Topics Covered included:

 Awareness of Love Your Local Market  Communication of the event  Attitude towards the event  Impact on footfall and turnover  Experience of New Traders  Benefits delivered by the event  Future expectations

In Wyre we carried out fieldwork during Thursday June 28th (in Fleetwood) and Monday July 2nd (in Poulton-le-Fylde). Our team exceeded targets, interviewing 6 New Traders, 13 Existing Traders, 18 market shoppers, 7 shopkeepers - and the market manager.

Images were captured and video interviews undertaken with key traders, market managers and shoppers where possible and these will be available as part of these published local case studies, and the national report that will sit alongside them.

4 Findings What did shoppers say? We completed depth Interviews with a total of 18 visitors to the market (12 in Fleetwood Market and 6 in Poulton le Fylde), both occasional and regular market shoppers.

Most of the shoppers in Fleetwood and Poulton have heard about LYLM, learning about it mostly via local media. Local press seemed the most efficient promotional medium for the event, as most of shoppers recalled seeing the LYLM logo in their local paper. A small number also mentioned recalled exposure on regional television.

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‘Yes, I have seen an advertisement in the paper and I'm sure I've seen it on the TV’ ‘I saw it in the local newspaper: Fleetwood Weekly News’ ‘Seen it in the local newspaper - Weekly News’ ‘Heard people talk about it at the bus stop. And I think I've seen the logo on telly’ That said most shoppers hadn’t noticed anything different in the markets. When asked what was different, some had noticed a few new stalls added to the existing market, and a few had noticed LYLM signage around the market. As regards the impact of the event on footfall, shoppers felt the negative impact of the poor weather conditions outweighed any positive impact of LYLM.

‘It’s not busier than usual because of the weather but it’s a good idea. They should offer it to more traders’ ‘No it’s not busier, but this is due to the weather as this market is a really busy market’ ‘They have two new stalls outside, and there are also signs around outside’ ‘There are two new stalls in the middle of the market’

Reactions to Love Your Local Market Wyre shoppers regard the LYLM event idea as ‘brilliant’, ‘excellent’ and ‘great’. They are eager to support anything that provides variety in the town centre encourages more people into the market.

‘It's a very good idea, without Fleetwood Market there would be no Fleetwood. We have already lost the town’

‘If it creates more income and helps Fleetwood then anything is a good idea’

‘Good for new businesses as it's cheap for them to start a new business. It will also bring more people to the market if there is more stalls’

‘It helps the friendly traders and if it brings more people into the town it will create a better atmosphere and it will be busier’

‘I think it's a great idea which will hopefully bring new things to the market, more variety of stalls’

‘It helps new businesses to start up in this economical time. If there are New Traders this will encourage more people to come back as there is more variety’

‘Yes it is a good idea, and will bring more people to Poulton which Poulton needs. Without this market we had nothing’

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They are also very conscious of the importance of revitalising markets to support the local economy and to provide trading opportunities for entrepreneurs and start up businesses. The Market has for long been a central feature of Fleetwood, and in this depressed economy almost every other person is on the lookout for a way to make some money.

‘It's a good idea. I was thinking about do something like that as it's a good start for £5, for a stall. Be able to pay the rent and it would give me a good idea of how the business works outside’

‘I do think it's a good event. It's a great idea as it will bring this street market back. Because if traders can pay £5 rent to start a business than it’s not hard for them to make their rent’

‘It's a very good idea gives people the chance to build up their business before they have to pay full rent. It also gives them time to see if this kind of business is for them as they won't lose out if it's only £5 rent’

Restaging Love Your Local Market Shoppers believe Love Your Local Market should be repeated more often; and as in other locations they are calling for it to be advertised more vigorously to attract more people.

‘Yes, it should be repeated more often as this will encourage more traders to start up a business which will bring more people into Poulton, which is good for the town’

‘I think it should be done more often as it will build the community up. People don't just look around the market, they go in shops and use local transport or use the car park. Therefore good for Poulton all round’

‘Should be done more often. Then there will be more traders with different products which will bring more people in which is good for Poulton’

‘Maybe more advertising, well before the event like a month before. Then people will know about the event and use it’

‘It should be advertised more as it will bring new traders which will bring more people into Fleetwood and the market’

‘More often and more advertising inside the market. More Love Your Market banners and leaflets, also make more traders aware’

‘Maybe they could advertise it at local college's because they may encourage more people to use this event and give young people a chance to start a business’

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Where shoppers had criticisms, these were invariably constructive. They are aware that improvement of their local market will make a big difference for their town. In their analysis a better market means more traders, more visitors, and more money in the pockets of local people. Especially in Fleetwood, the perception of the market as the core of the town is very high. One shopper stated:

‘The market makes Fleetwood, without the market, there wouldn’t be anything left of Fleetwood’

And majority of the shoppers would like to see more traders offering different products, especially more fresh foods.

‘Fresh produce and fish. Fleetwood is a fishing town after all’

‘Would like to see more fresh products [like] fruit and veg. and so on’

‘Fresh produce. There are no veg. fish, or meat stalls. This would encourage local people’

What did New Traders say? Fleetwood is a very large market and had very ambitious targets for using LYLM to attract New Traders. However, their launch event on June 23rd was entirely washed out by torrential rain, and the day was again wet and windy when we interviewed on Thursday 28th. As the place reserved for New Traders was an outside plot at the side of the Market Hall, this not surprisingly deterred New Traders and they were thin on the ground during both of our fieldwork days on Thursday 28th (in Fleetwood) and on Monday 2nd (in Poulton-le-Fylde).

Across the 2 days we were able to interview 6 New Traders, one of whom was trading in both locations. Of these 4 were completely new to market trading, and others had traded in different markets but not in Fleetwood or Poulton. They had heard about LYLM through local newspapers, other existing traders, and the Market Manager.

The main reason for wanting to trade in these locations is mainly the reputation of the markets. Some wanted to try a new market, with some simply recognising the importance of trying trading in new markets when it is available.

‘Fleetwood is the best market: the biggest and best run. I always wanted to run my own market stall.’

‘I came here because I heard what shoppers were asking for, and also feedback from other traders. There is good support from others here’

‘I wanted to try a new market and try somewhere else’

‘I wanted to be here because of the positive talk about Poulton Market’

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Views of signing up process and terms offered

New Traders found the signing up experience very easy and the information provided very helpful. They received information via the local newspaper, and subsequently from the Market Manager, plus help by phone as well.

‘There was good info in newspapers, the stuff was always helpful’

‘The market manager was very helpful on the phone’

‘Easy and all by phone. The Manager was very helpful and met me’

‘Very easy, I just had to ring up’

Benefits… Although generally New Traders were happy with the stall costs, there was no consistent understanding among them as to exactly what the per day terms were, were long they lasted, or whether they could be continued after LYLM. Some New Traders were aware they had been offered a special rate, but didn’t know whether this was an LYLM concession, or a general offer to New Traders

Also they were not able to take advantage of any other form of support, as they were not made aware of support packages offered by the NMTF, or other local sources. A commercial business consultancy located near to the Fleetwood Market offers a training course for prospective market traders, and one New Trader had taken up this course and was pleased by it. But overall they were very positive about the Love Your Local Market initiative and suggested it should be repeated more often.

‘It's a good idea as it means New Traders can set up as the rent is £5.’

‘This is a great way to encourage New Traders as they won't have to worry about high rents’

‘It’s a good idea and needed to revitalise markets. Markets are undermined everywhere’

‘Good as it helps New Traders every year. More advertising please, then more people will know about the event. I only knew because another trader told me’

‘I think it's a great idea, variety is everything. I think it should be repeated more often as this would encourage more first-time traders to at least try it out first’

‘Should happen at least twice a year. Bigger promotion especially in the local press’

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Experience of first trading day Towards the end of a day of wretched weather and moderate footfall in the market, we returned to all New Traders interviewed earlier to ask about their impression by the end of the day. Even though some had found the market quiet, they were not discouraged, and wanted to continue and try their luck again.

‘It has been a worthwhile day, we opened on Tuesday but have been very popular ad feel we have generated more customers for the market’

‘Quiet day with various difficulties (weather, empty stalls, incorrect information) - but I’m still wanting to continue through the summer and winter’

‘I would do it again because the rent isn't high, so I don't need to worry about selling a high amount to cover costs’

‘This was a quiet day with too much pick up / put down. But plenty of learning and I want to carry on’

Enhancing LYLM New Traders identify more promotion and advertising and investment in the market as imperatives

‘More advertising so people and traders know about the event’

‘We suggest more seating for the elderly around the market and better toilet facilities: invest in the market’

Follow up… At the end of September, we made a telephone follow-up with New Traders that we had encountered during LYLM at Fleetwood and Poulton-le-Fylde. Our objective was to develop some understanding of medium-term impact of LYLM on their market trading careers. Of the 6 interviewed in June/July 3 had ceased trading and fallen off the radar; one had ceased trading, but was intending to resume his trading career in 2013 with a different seasonal timetable; and two were clearly thriving in their new careers.

Trevor Dabek, Sweet Sensations His ‘shop’, selling a line of traditional classic sweets and candies mostly produced in the region, has been open since early July, trading whenever the market is open ie Tues/Thurs/Fri/ Sat. He’s on a permanent 3 year lease, with an option to renew for a further 3 years, and so on.

‘I think the market should be open every day of the week – that’s how I would get better value from my rent. For example the market is currently open on Mondays – but only for traders to get organised. Why not open it to the public that day?

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LYLM has been very helpful in getting a buzz going around the market, which introduced traders to each other and customers to traders.

After that trading was slow – but it picked up as soon as the Lights (Blackpool Illuminations) were switched on. That has brought in more customers, including regulars who live nearby – but suddenly they are coming into the market again.

I’m very pleased to hope that LYLM will happen again in 2013. For 2013, I hope to see promotion of markets nationally, as well as more vigorous local promotion of Fleetwood Market – for example via roadside sites.’

Leonard Lee, plants and gardening gifts Leonard traded for a month but had to give up because of a lack of business. Simply there wasn’t enough custom for him.

‘The weather was poor, and this meant that shoppers wouldn’t venture out to my outside location.

Although I have given up my pitch I feel LYLM was a good and worthwhile event. It seems to have brought new people and new blood into markets. Other traders feel the same way as far as I know.

I am not giving up and may try again next year – but would launch earlier in the year, maybe March, when there is more interest in plants’

Keith Smith, Natural Ingredients (www.natural-Ingredients.co.uk) Keith, with his wife, started trading during LYLM fortnight and he is now trading all market days and developing his business by selling his products to other local retailers.

‘When you interviewed us here in July (during LYLM fortnight) it was our first day as market traders, and I remember it well. We’re still trading and we now trade all market days in Fleetwood.

The stall in Fleetwood has become our base from which we now sell into local retail outlets like specialist markets and food halls. We have developed the stall so that we can now store 3,500 jars of preserves and chutneys, which is one month’s supply. When we first started out in July we could hope to sell 1,500 jars per month – so you can see how we have expanded. Basically my wife makes the produce and I man the stall, but we have had to employ two people now to help us to cope.

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Our previous trading experience was what we call ‘Special Events’ like country shows. It was LYLM that persuaded us to try market trading. We live in Fleetwood but we had an open mind about where to trade. The reason for coming to Fleetwood was because they were participating in LYLM, and because Julian (Brent) was so helpful and able to answer our questions. Visitors now have a very different concept of what they expect from markets, based on what they have seen abroad in France or Italy. They have developed a taste for specialist products from markets, and that’s what they expect. Also we have a different concept of what a market can do for us as traders. For us the stall is our showcase and how we show our produce to new customers. Our produce is attractive, so we need a good position to make a good display to customers.

Visitors don’t always buy straight away, but they make a note for the future and then come back.

Here about two thirds of shoppers are tourists, so we make sure that everyone who comes to the stall or buys here gets a leaflet, and that way we have found that traffic to our site has increased by 112% and we get orders from people who saw our stall when they came here on holiday.

At the time of LYLM we didn’t know that any other support was available for New Traders. Later I investigated what was available – but to be honest the training that was offered to me was too ‘low key’, bearing in mind I trained in catering in the Army, and I have been selling in different ways for a long time. For the future I would like to have some input into the training that is offered to market traders, as the low level training offered isn’t right for everyone.

We are very pleased if LYLM happens again in 2013. In my view it needs much better promotion to the public. This year Market Managers and traders knew it was happening, but shoppers didn’t know about the event, and didn’t know they could find New Traders in the market’

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What did Existing Traders say? We completed depth interviews with a total of 13 current traders in Wyre (7 in Fleetwood Market, 6 in Poulton le Fylde) Most existing traders were aware of Love Your Local Market after hearing about it from the local newspapers (Lancashire Life Magazine and Fleetwood Weekly News) or from other traders by word of mouth. Existing traders agreed that LYLM is a good idea, welcoming any promotion of their markets.

‘I think it's a great idea, potentially more custom which means better trade for us’

‘I think it's a great idea for New Traders. They should have done this when I started out. It would have been a great deal for me, because your rents are not high so you have less outgoings - which is great in the business world’

‘Very good idea if it is encouraging New Traders to set up a business. That’s what is keeping markets going, and we want people to start using markets again’

‘If it brings New Traders in it's an excellent idea as this will bring a variety of stalls and gives people more incentive to look around as there is more to offer’

Like Wyre shoppers, existing traders recognised that any beneficial effect of LYLM on footfall and sales was swamped by the poor weather – the outcome being a quiet trading day. A few thought the market was busier than usual, but were not sure whether to ascribe that to LYLM or the time of year. Looking at the long-term benefits however, they were convinced that LYLM would make a difference to the town centres.

‘It hasn’t made an impact on sales yet. But that should improve if it brings more people into the market which should increase income’

‘It's just the same as normal - but we always expect to make a wage in this weather. So if it's dry it makes more of an impact as we generate more income on a dry day as more people are out’ ‘In the long run it should be good as it will bring more people into Poulton, generating more revenue’

‘Well it will bring more people into the town which brings more money into Poulton’

‘It will bring the community together which gives a better atmosphere around town’

‘If the market has more traders I think it will encourage more people to come through to the market and will make them want to come back’

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Attitude towards New Traders In the main they support the idea of having New Traders in the market, recognising that a new offer on the stalls will attract new visitors. Like existing traders everywhere, they don’t want new traders in the same market selling competing lines. Although they recognise the virtue of variety in a market, they also expect that all traders will pay the same rent in the in the long term, to avoid unfair competition.

‘As long as they are bringing new things and attracting younger people.’

‘The market needs to be full because that encourages more customers and builds up the atmosphere’

‘The more the merrier. As long as they're not selling the same as other traders’

‘Anything which is helping markets get back on the map is a great idea, so I'm all for New Traders getting these opportunities’

‘The downsides are only if they were selling the same thing as an existing trader. They will have an advantage as their rents are lower’

‘If a new trader comes on selling the same products and paying less rent then that will have an impact’

Restaging Love Your Local Market The majority of existing traders Believe LYLM should be repeated and even staged more frequently. They are looking for more effective promotion, and also put forward the idea of incentives for existing traders, as well as New Traders.

‘More should be done for the existing market rather than promoting New Traders; there is nothing left in Fleetwood any more apart from this market’

‘Advertise indoors to make more traders aware of the event’

‘They should do a new promotion like this for all traders - £5 a day every month’

‘More advertising. I had not heard of the event before this’

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What did shopkeepers say? Shopkeepers around Fleetwood and Poulton Markets were generally not aware of the Love Your Local Market initiative. They appreciate the impact of the market on their sales and footfall in general – but in this case they weren’t aware of any direct impact on footfall or sales.

‘Poulton Market is a great idea. It has increased footfall in our shop. Poulton Market has brought more people into the town which is what Poulton has needed for years’

‘Mondays [market day] are one of our busiest days now. So Poulton Market is a really good idea’

They strongly welcome support and investment in the market as they believe they will benefit from an improved market as much as market traders.

‘I would invest in what Fleetwood is famous for, if I didn't have my shop I would have taken up the [£5 per day] stall myself.’

‘I think the market needs an investment as that will encourage more people and it will be more appealing’

‘The market helps revenue for local businesses. So what helps the market helps us’

Shopkeepers regard the Love Your Local Market fortnight as a very good idea to attract more people to their towns – tough recognising that stronger advertising is needed to make the event better and more effective.

‘Very good idea, if it brings people to Poulton it's good for the community. It also helps young businesses make a start’

‘I think it's a good idea, Fleetwood needs more advertising to make customers more aware of opening times / things available etc.’

‘This would be a great idea when I was setting up. It would have been a great help’

‘Bit more advertising because then it will get people talking about it which will get it noticed more and it will become a bigger event’

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What did market managers say? Wyre Council Markets Manager Julian Brent describes his Fleetwood market as a traditional general market, catering especially to holidaymakers [pensioners] travelling by coach from Blackpool. Fleetwood Market operates out of 2 large halls offering some 200 stalls under cover, with an outdoor area also in use on Tuesday and Saturday offering a further 50 stalls. This area, offering scant protection from the Lancashire coast weather, is what was offered to LYLM New Traders, with pitches at a modest £5 per day)

Julian explained that Fleetwood Market has seen some challenging times recently. Nonetheless it’s still a major factor and still the biggest generator of jobs in the town.

‘The market (and all of Fleetwood) suffered from the absence of trams for 2 years, which was very damaging for the town. Now the service is restored with faster trams, so visitor numbers may return. As a result of the tram disruption, the market is at its lowest occupancy level lowest for years (but still at 88%!) Market has also suffered from new rating policy by Council which means that some traders pay higher rates than others.

The Market is a very important employer, employing more than 300 stall workers, plus various ancillaries. After the closure of the fish docks the market is the only reason to visit Fleetwood!’

Julian is from a Jewish market trading family for 3 generations, so he knows the importance of markets in society and the essentials of trading in markets, and is an admirer of the work done by NABMA to promote markets. He sees the disciplined life of the market trader as a valuable training ground for young people.

‘Market trading is a good discipline and training for young people. You need to make an early start, to be well organised, to be well presented. It gives a clear structure and discipline for young people. It should be considered as a corrective for young offenders or young people who have gone off the rails. But today where is the training programme for becoming a market trader, or for sharpening market skills?’

He heard about Love Your Local Market fortnight at the NABMA Conference and responded positively to NABMA’s follow-up.

‘The momentum of LYLM would have delivered all these gains, but the dreadful weather has scuppered it. With footfall at its usual level, sales seem to be unchanged. But of course without the LYLM promotion footfall and sales might be down. Because of poor weather we’re not getting the usual number of coaches (of Blackpool holidaymakers). In any event the presence of posters around the market has given the place a boost.’

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Schemes offered Julian’s helpful role was endorsed by traders existing and new.

‘I believe a trader needs longer continuity to help him to test his offer. So we are providing stalls at our Thursday Market for just £5 per day from June 23rd right through to end of July. I devised special leasing arrangements for New Traders, and gave them personal advice and encouragement to get them up and running. I helped one New Trader today by finding a stall for him inside at the same rent as he was paying outdoors

I would like to see a specific formalised scheme provided by the NMTF, and more vigorous promotion of it. Traders have not been persuaded to join the NMTF, and the council doesn’t provide any assistance to traders. NMTF have local reps for this market and I would like to see them making more information available about NMTF and their support schemes at a local level’

Julian talked about extensive interest in LYLM, and a target to reach 100 New Traders by the end of July. We only found 5 across two market days so it’s hard to see how the target could be achieved. Julian is aware of the challenges of keeping New Traders in the market.

‘Realistically only a small percentage will become committed traders. Things that catch out New Traders are things like the need to build up their stock. They sell out and think they’ve had a great day, but then find they have no stock for the next trading day. There’s a need for specific training to help traders with stock management’

The future… He thinks it should be repeated at least once a year and there should be more government help for people wanting to become market traders. Alone of people interviewed, Julian commented on the importance – and challenge - to New Traders of maintaining generous stock levels, using an old market trading adage ‘The bigger the flash, the more the cash’. For the future he wants organisers to encourage wholesalers and producers to support New Traders with a special scheme through LYLM.

‘The event has been a brilliant effort and initiative by NABMA. It’s been well directed and well targeted. For the future they should consider extending the invitation specifically to schools and colleges. They might be interested to create and trade from stalls as a workshop in entrepreneurship. I would also like to see producers and wholesalers invited to join the LYLM scheme. They could provide stock on special terms or maybe a sale or return deal to help New Traders.’

He believes that the very existence of LYLM increased his leverage with his Council employers on behalf of markets, in his words:

‘It’s made it easier to get council officers from other departments to come on board and get involved in the future of markets in Wyre’

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Follow up… In October, we interviewed Julian Brent by telephone to follow up the impacts of the LYLM initiative in Fleetwood and Poulton Markets. They definitely want to participate in 2013 and have further ideas to make the event more effective and useful for traders and the town.

‘In Fleetwood we extended LYLM through to end of July. In total we started about 30 New Traders over the period, and of those 3 are still trading in the market. I have no precise knowledge really as to why the other 27 have drifted away. Many were just trying market trading for a day, but for a number they didn’t have enough stock to trade on over period. For the future advice and practical help with building and maintaining a good stock level would be a big help to New Traders.

A gifts and toiletries trader was doing well and he had a good temperament to be a successful trader. But he was offered a second job in another council building and that was a safer bet. The Jam Stall (Keith Smith, Natural Ingredients, see his interview) is doing very well.

LYLM should also consider creating a scheme to encourage wholesalers to support New Traders with stock. They need to give them better credit lines and a better grade of stock. If New Traders were guaranteed by Government wholesalers might support them better

These days we are a Tourist Market, so national promotion of markets is very important to us. In 2012 we found that some tourists were aware of LYLM– but that depended on where they were coming from. LYLM should be able to provide national promotion for the event, to add to what we do locally. The concept of shopping in markets should be promoted all the year round’

We certainly want to participate in 2013, and the earlier starting date sounds like a good idea. We have one or two new initiatives in mind e.g. we intend to make contact with local colleges offering Business Studies and related courses to offer students a chance, through LYLM, to put their entrepreneurship theories into practice. Depending on levels of interest, we may offer colleges a dedicated trading day. A good offer would be if the market can fit out a stall suitable for a food offer and make it available to a local catering college. The message would be ‘Let’s get the youth of today going forward into work.

In Poulton, where the new market is doing very well, we are planning to have a dedicated New Traders Day, with about 20 New Traders.

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5 Appendices

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Note: Some photos are taken from the www.visitpoulton-le-fylde.co.uk website and may not been cleared for publication.

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Love Your Local Market 2012 Impact of the event in Bradford (Shipley) Market

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Contents

23 Summary...... 107 24 Fact File...... 108 About Bradford Markets...... 108 ‘Love Your Local Market’: What did they do?...... 109 25 Research Approach...... 110 26 Findings...... 111 What did shoppers say?...... 111 What did New Traders say?...... 114 What did Existing Traders say?...... 118 What did shopkeepers say?...... 121 What did market managers say?...... 123 27 Appendices...... 124

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1 Summary

 Bradford Markets (run by Bradford Council) undertook Love Your Local Market campaigns across its numerous sites over the fortnight of 23rd June to 7th July. Our evaluation took place in Shipley Market Place, one of Bradford’s outlying towns with a strong market tradition.  The weather was terrible and affected turnout, yet everybody interviewed in Shipley (shoppers, traders, new traders, nearby retailers and market managers) thought the concept of Love Your Local Market (LYLM) was positive, indeed, crucial for the future of the market and the town centre.  Bradford Markets put considerable effort into promoting the event, with PR in the local press, on the council intranet, and a poster campaign. They also engaged Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food to cook with market ingredients. Like Bolton they invited Apprentice finalist and market trader Adam Corbally to speak about how to use market trading as a springboard to retail success.  15 New Traders were attracted by Bradford’s Love Your Local Market ‘Trade for a Tenner’ promotion. Three of these were completely new to market trading, with the rest already trading at other markets. Of these, all that could be contacted three months later, including the three traders completely new to market trading are still trading.  All traders, new and existing, were appreciative of the event and reported sales well in excess of what might have expected given the poor weather.  Bradford’s market management team took a creative approach to housing their New Traders, locating a row of ‘pop-up’ gazebo stalls opposite a parade of existing shops, in a long line. This effectively created a new retail thoroughfare, which benefited everybody.  Bradford management are aware that two weeks is not long enough to truly trial market trading. Their own ‘Trade for Free’ initiative offers six months free trading in return for a further six months paid trading to make a 12-month initial contract. Part of the deal is a traders’ support package provided by the staff of Bradford Markets (e.g. financials, merchandising etc). Other councils may consider a similar scheme to supplement the LYLM ‘trade for a tenner’ offer  Bradford, like some of the other LYLM case studies, worked with local schools to stage schools markets, giving young entrepreneurs a taste of market trading. In Bradford itself and nearby Keighley market, over 50 ‘teams’ of schoolchildren traded successfully.  Unusually the perception, at least in Shipley, was that the LYLM event had actually boosted both footfall and sales revenue in the market – in spite of poor weather. Some traders talked of footfall up by 25% and others reported they had sold out by lunchtime  Market management have also successfully avoided an ‘us against them’ (ie retailers vs traders) scenario, using LYLM to create an event where all town centre stakeholders were able to benefit

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2 Fact file

About Bradford Markets The Bradford metropolitan area comprises the city itself as well as the market towns of Shipley, Keighley, Ilkley and Bingley and as a district has a population of around 290,000. In demographic terms its catchment is mainly C2DE, though the rural area around the city has a significant number of more affluent AB residents. It competes in many ways with nearby Leeds, but has recently been subject to significant regeneration and the markets play a vital role in the city’s retail and social life.

The Oastler Shopping Centre (former John Street Market) is the larger of the two city centre indoor markets and offers 176 indoor stalls and 23 external shop units. This market specialises in the sale of convenience and comparison goods with a specialist fresh food section.

Kirkgate Market which is located in the Kirkgate Shopping Centre offers 184 stalls and based traditionally on comparison goods. The wholesale market (St James's Wholesale Market) caters not only for the city's large Asian restaurateur community but also servers the hotel and catering sector together with many independent foods retailers across Bradford district as well as retailers that trade across West Yorkshire.

For this study we visited Shipley market, located about 5 miles out of Bradford on Saturday July 7th, the closing day of Love Your Local Market 2012

Shipley is a town built around its market, which remains at the heart of the main shopping precinct. The old-style fixed stalls operate on Mondays selling second-hand items and bric-a- brac, while on Friday and Saturday it functions as a more conventional general market, with a wide selection of goods and fresh food products offered from around 20 or so of its 40 possible stalls.

A small, dedicated team runs Bradford markets and, crucially, they are forward thinking in developing both the markets and new traders in challenging economic times and conditions.

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Love Your Local Market: What did they do?

Recruiting New Traders for LYLM The council’s Markets Team used a range of methods to recruit New Traders, using both Love Your Local Market’s ‘Trade for a Tenner’ offer, and also its own ‘Trade for Free’ offer. ‘Trade for Free’ allows New traders to pay for only 6 months out of 12, so long as they are prepared to take out a yearlong contract and accept, where appropriate, a free package of support. ‘Trade for a Tenner’ stalls were available in Bradford Kirkgate, Bingley and Shipley, though it’s worth noting that at most Bradford markets stalls are only £10.50 per day anyway.

Bradford recruited its new stallholders via: - Posters in existing markets - PR in local press - Email to the Market Team’s database of contacts - A notice to existing market traders who might know others looking for a no-risk way into trading.

Shipley town centre’s pop-up market launched on 23rd June, with many New Traders trading on during the following week, despite the unseasonably poor weather. Overall Bradford Markets attracted 15 New Traders to their LYLM event, using their ‘Trade for a Tenner’ scheme. Three of these were completely new to market trading, with the remainder trading at other markets in the district and across West Yorkshire. The council also worked with local schools to stage ’Schools Markets’ where students got a taste of market trading in Bradford City Centre and Keighley Town Centre. Bradford had 38 groups of students running stalls and Keighley about 20, making this scheme a great success. The Markets Team also enticed Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food team to attend the Bingley event and provide advice on how to use market products to create cheap, healthy and exciting meals. In Shipley the Market Square has around 40 fixed steel and wood stalls, but for the purposes of the Love Your Local Market campaign, the council erected additional ‘pop-up’ gazebo stalls for new traders directly parallel to a run of shops including the likes of Superdrug and Card Factory creating a sort of funnel effect. This virtually created a new street; in the one side with conventional retail units, and on the other market stalls. This worked well and is explored further below.

Promoting Love Your Local Market In spite of the short time available for planning, Bradford took the Love Your Local Market campaign seriously, making substantial efforts to promote the event, which in Bradford ran over two weeks between 23rd June to 7th July.

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Launch day was in Bradford on Saturday 23rd June, when Apprentice finalist Adam Corbally was present speaking about the opportunities markets provide for entrepreneurs. (Adam is a North Westerner and started his own business at Glossop Market in the 1990, also trading in a number of other markets including Bolton, one of our other case studies).

In terms of promotion the team allocated its resources as follows: - PR to local media triggering coverage in the Bradford Telegraph & Argus - Coverage on Bradford Markets website and the Council’s intranet - Promotion with existing trader networks - Banners for the pop-up stalls

3 Research Approach

Our research approach was to visit each of the 5 case study locations signposted to us by NABMA (Bolton, Bradford, Fleetwood, Ludlow and Portobello) for a full day during Love Your Local Market. During the day we sought to carry out Depth Interviews of approx 5 minutes duration with at least six New Traders, six with Existing Traders, 15 market shoppers, six nearby shopkeepers, and of course the market manager or managers.

Individual Topics Guides (prompts for discussion) were created for each stakeholder group and extensive notes made in real time during interviews. The style of these Depth Interviews is for researchers to ask open-ended questions and to capture the respondents’ views and comments on relevant topics. Topics covered included:  Awareness of Love Your Local Market  Communication of the event  Attitude towards the event  Impact on footfall and turnover  Experience of New Traders  Benefits delivered by the event  Future expectations

The purpose of the ‘Depth Interview’ approach was to glean views and comments from a range of stakeholders of Bradford markets.

In Shipley we carried out fieldwork during the closing day of their campaign, Saturday June 29th, interviewing 6 New Traders, 13 Existing Traders, 18 market shoppers, 7 shopkeepers - and the market manager.

Images were captured and video interviews undertaken with key traders, market managers and shoppers where possible and these will be available as part of these published local case studies, and the national report that will sit alongside them.

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4 Findings What did shoppers say? Our team interviewed 16 shoppers as part of its attendance at the final day of Bradford’s Love Your Local Market event at Shipley on the 29th June, and here we outline the findings from these interviewees.

On the day we were able to visit Shipley town centre few New Traders were present (as the main LYLM days were the previous Friday and Saturday). That said, a number of shoppers interviewed had also been in the town centre the weekend before when the full complement of New Traders was present and so were able to comment based on that experience.

Shoppers were predominantly asked about their awareness and impressions of the event and their ideas for improvements if the campaign were to be repeated in 2013, as well as their general views about Shipley Market.

Awareness of Love Your Local Market Most shoppers in Shipley had not heard of Love Your Local Market. This apparent lapse may have been exacerbated by the timing of our fieldwork, which fell at the end of the week when the LYLM’s New Traders had packed up, and so there was no physical presence beyond the normal market traders.

‘We wouldn’t have known about it if it wasn’t for spying it from other side of the street. We went over to have a look’

When prompted, a few of those who were not aware of the initiative did recognise the LYLM logo. Probing revealed that shoppers had some awareness of the Portas Review, and understood the rationale in promoting specific market days as part of the broader success of market and town centre revitalisation.

Those who had heard of Love Your Local Market had done so via a story in the local press or by being there on the weekend when it launched. As in other Case Study locations, shoppers felt that more vigorous promotion was needed:

‘I work in the card shop over there and it was advertised to us in our shop’

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‘Tell em about it! More posters, leaflets, and on the radio – I always listen to Radio Leeds but I can’t recall ‘owt about this market thing you are talking about’

‘More advertising – I didn’t read about it or hear about it on the radio… what about Pulse FM?’

The phenomenon of the LYLM pop-up market in the heart of Shipley was hugely significant in raising awareness of the campaign among those who had seen it over the previous weekend – for them seeing was believing. It was this that raised shoppers’ curiosity by changing the shape of a key public space, and so tempting those already in the town or passing through to stop and venture in:

‘We were along here at the weekend with the family and it was really busy, particularly over the other side near where the stalls were. There must have been 15 or so’

Reactions to Love Your Local Market Shipley shoppers were very much engaged with the objectives of Love Your Local Market, welcoming the impetus and energy it injects into their town centre. The event concept was considered a ‘crucial’, ‘brilliant’ and ‘much needed’ idea by Shipley shoppers, with typical responses such as:

‘It’s a fantastic idea. It’s criminal nobody’s thought of this before’

‘It’s brilliant, why did it take so long?’

‘The market is the heart of our town [Shipley]. It’s right here in the centre, it’s not underground or to one side and for our town it’s the barometer. If we lost it, it would lose its soul. This [LYLM] is part of ensuring that continues’

‘I wasn’t here on Saturday, but my cousin came down and said it was really good, really lively’

‘The market is the best thing we have in this town. If the market dies that’s the end of Shipley!’

It was clear that, as with traders and shopkeepers, the market had made a real difference to perceptions of footfall for those shoppers who had been in the town:

‘Last Saturday, was much busier than usual. Maybe twice as busy’

There was also a realisation that markets and market towns such as Shipley do not operate in isolation and are in competition with other towns and other shopping styles.

‘We have problems with supermarkets and online trading taking away trade from town centres and they need to adapt to survive otherwise they will become ghost towns. If anything can help, like [LYLM], so much the better. But it can’t be on its own, they need grants for new

112 shopkeepers, lower business rates and so on. The council also needs to keep it [the market] in good condition, it looks shabby now’

‘Markets are the heart of any town. Look at Bradford, Keighley, and Leeds, [they] all have great markets. Without them..... it would just be all chains and betting shops’

‘We all survive or die together. If we don’t have a complete offer, you know… market, shops, supermarket, parking, and visitors - then soon enough we won’t have a town’

‘…The idea of having a campaign or event that shines a spotlight on markets and their importance is crucial… I think there also needs to be more thought about how you do more with them, you know more crafts, famers markets, speciality markets’

‘I saw the Mary Portas thing on TV but didn’t know this was part of it. I really think that she hit the nail on the head. It’s all about bringing people back into the town centre. Here we have the market in the middle, which could do with some improving, it’s a bit bleak, particularly today. And then we’ve got some good smaller shops... But really the town centre needs some investment’

However, one shopper raised a note of caution: in his view it’s not enough for LYLM to turn up once a year, the market has to evolve and respond to consumer demand.

‘Markets need to be able stand on their own two feet. If they aren’t providing the things people want then they’ll just go on the internet or to supermarkets.’

Restaging Love Your Local Market All shoppers saw the wisdom of repeating Love Your Local Market with most believing it should be held more often, either quarterly and monthly, though no more frequently –that would damage its appeal:

‘I think you have to be careful about doing it too often. People get bored and it just becomes the same old same old. I think it could be great if it was monthly, maybe with a continental market. It could be something that attracts people from all over Bradford and the moors. Why not make the town into a real centre of gravity?’

‘I think it’s a good idea to have it yearly – if you did it any more often it would lose its appeal wouldn’t it?’

‘Why is it only a yearly thing? The market is in dire need of more people buying things. Let’s get it going more often’

‘I don’t know enough about the event itself, you know, as a concept, but for me they definitely need to plan a bit more and get it in a few times a year. How many times is it? [When told just once]… That’s crazy, it should be at least quarterly’

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‘At least yearly. Why not have special markets once a month? Why not a food market with hot food? And more family based things to do, brass bands, bouncy castles and that sort of thing’

In terms of enhancing a future LYLM event, ideas mostly focus on more vigorous marketing and PR for the event, and making it a more family focused day out.

‘Lots of people won’t have heard about it, I only stumbled on it by chance’

‘Just put more advertising up. I’ve not seen anything’

‘It needs more advertising – you know, stuff on TV and in the Argus and the like’

‘The event itself…. Well for me advertise it more – and do it in Bingley too!’

‘It needs to be more often, but also it needs to have more activities alongside it. You know stuff for children, things that are interactive – cooking and baking....’

‘I think that it should have lots of stuff for children. My cousin said that it would have been really good with extra kids and family stuff; you know face-painting and bouncy castles’

‘What about getting the local schools to do stalls and a competition for the best business idea, or who sells the most, you know like in Dragon’s Den’

What did New Traders say? We interviewed some half dozen New Traders –in this case, post event by phone and email as poor weather deterred them when we visited on June 23rd. Of these, 3 were completely new to market trading, whilst three had traded before, but not at Shipley. These New Traders, all local people, were keenly aware of the value of retail in general and the market in particular to the town, and readily engaged with the initiatives and challenges implied by Love Your Local Market

Most New Traders were aware of LYLM, with most hearing of it via direct communication from the council. One had heard about it from another trader.

‘The council sent round circulars and a friend of mine is a trader and he said, why don’t you give it a go - so I did!’

The main reason for applying to participate in LYLM by existing traders was the opportunity to try a new location. There was also the perception that the new pop-up stalls might be better than the existing ones used by current traders in the centre of Shipley.

The price was also a factor, but largely because New Traders were mostly unaware of the general rate for a stall in Bradford Markets (about £10.50 per day). When told (by our

114 interviewers) that the pd rate was only £10.50, the response was very positive, with some suggesting the council could do more to promote the low cost of market trading in Bradford.

‘I just thought it would be good to give Shipley a go and, although the weather wasn’t great, it was good to try it out. I’d definitely do it again’

‘It just seemed too good an offer to refuse for a tenner. I had been thinking of getting a stall in Shipley for some time and this was the perfect opportunity to trial run it’

All New Traders were positive about LYLM, despite the terrible weather. Some identified the market stall experience offered as a stepping stone to running a permanent store.

‘It’s brilliant. I only get to sell my stuff at markets because it’s much too expensive to sell via a shop. I can’t afford the business rates. Maybe if this takes off I will be able to’

‘I think one area is how you get those of us who have traded here to trade permanently in empty shops. In those towns [Bradford, Bingley, Keighley] there must be loads of empty shops because we are in a poor part of the world and why not give traders a chance to trade in these, perhaps on rotation’

‘It’s all good. The traders all seem to be getting on with each other and I think the shops are benefitting too’

Signing up… Overall, traders considered signing up and support from the council excellent.

‘It was dead easy. Richard [Ambler – markets officer] just did everything. Can’t recommend him or the council highly enough’

None of the New Traders at Shipley had heard of NMTF’s ‘First Pitch’ initiatives so had not taken it up. This may be an area where councils and NMTF can link more effectively with potential New Traders at any future LYLM event.

However, several had heard of the possibility of six months trading for free under the council’s own ‘Trade for Free’ scheme. Two said they would be interested in this after the Love Your Local Market campaign finished, if their new ventures progressed well.

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Impact on footfall and sales in the market It was difficult for New Traders to say confidently that the LYLM event had boosted footfall in the Market Place; most weren’t sufficiently knowledgeable about what ‘the norm’ was, and also the poor weather provided another wild card. However, they definitely felt that relative to the rest of the town, the alley between the gazebos was the busiest part of town.

The ability to almost create a ‘new shopping street’ was seen as positive, funnelling customers between existing stores and the gazebos was seen to create a better retail experience.

‘I’d love to say whether it was busier or not, but to be honest I’d be lying. Firstly I don’t know Shipley well enough to say, and also it was tough, mainly because of the weather. I reckon it would increase footfall by about 20% on a nice day’

‘We are definitely in the busiest part of town. When you look at the rest of it, it was pretty dead but we were in the right location’

‘We could have gone somewhere else on Saturday but we chose here. Having done the Friday the Saturday was even better. I suspect it would normally be about half this [busy] for a regular trader on one of the fixed metal stalls’

Traders were generally positive about their sales over the week, particularly at the weekend. As in Bolton, the main benefit was not just the money taken on the day, but the chance to trade somewhere new: any opportunity is a chance to make money and to make their business more visible.

‘It was pretty good over the weekend. We have done better at other markets, but for a first time in Shipley, that was pretty good. It’s a tenner – you can’t complain can you?’

‘I have to say that I wasn’t sure what to expect. I just turned up with my stuff and it turned out to be great! I probably sold twice what I would have wanted to, maybe even 3 times’

‘The locals seem really interested. A lot of them said how good it was to have something different here!’

‘Yes, it’s great. We would have been sat at home today if it weren’t for the opportunity’

Impact on the market and town centre Shipley has a fine Market Place, but the stalls are acknowledged to be a bit down at heel. New Traders identified LYLM as something that could really make the town centre stand out and worth staging more often.

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‘What is great about it, despite the rain and wind, is that it offers a different perspective. If you look at the town it’s a bit on its knees. There are some good traders, but it doesn’t feel vibrant. This kind of thing [LYLM] more often would really help to make a difference’

‘Yes what it could do is attract a different demographic, particular if there is more entertainment and events alongside’

Restaging Love Your Local Market New Traders in Shipley were very positive about the concept of LYLM. In accord with traders at other markets their cry was to make it bigger and more successful next year, and especially to promote it more vigorously.

‘There’s nothing I can suggest – it’s been really well organised for a first time. Oh, I suppose they could have perhaps done more marketing’

‘There’s nothing they could do better – the organisation, the gazebos. Perhaps just get more stalls down next year’

All New Traders want LYLM to be repeated on a more frequent basis – quarterly or even monthly according to some. Whilst there is support for a monthly LYLM ‘Special Event’ this is tempered by the realisation that it would be dependent on availability of resources and support.

‘It’s such a good idea; it would be brilliant if we could have it every month. But the problem you have is that you would end up with attendances falling off because people would be too used to it. I think maybe once a year for Love Your Local Market but then maybe once every quarter for a more local event’

‘At least yearly, perhaps even monthly. We would trade here monthly if we could. But not on the fixed stalls, it needs to be on the gazebos right here next to the other shops’

Follow up… After three months we made a telephone follow-up with the three completely New Traders who attended Shipley’s ‘Trade for a Tenner’ LYLM event. All three New Traders (as well as those ‘new to Shipley’ traders who are still in contact with the council) are still trading. New Traders are undertaking different methods to take their businesses forward. Some are trading more regularly at Bradford Market, while others are trading more irregularly to fit their lifestyles.

From discussion with all three it was clear that the LYLM initiative in Shipley had given them the confidence and self-respect to believe they could make a success of market trading. What appeared to be lacking predominantly is the opportunity to trade.

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‘It was great – are we doing another one next year? I haven’t been back to Shipley but I’d love to when there’s another event like that. I’m trading well. I can’t say that Shipley made a live or die difference, but it certainly helped me. If only it was more often!’

‘I didn’t trade again for some time; it’s just hard finding opportunities. I am doing it irregularly rather than taking a stall full time but it’s hard to find locations to do this, it all seems to be about doing it six days a week, although Shipley you can just do Fridays and Saturdays, but it’s a bit far for me on a permanent basis. I am also looking at trading at Leeds and Huddersfield on an occasional basis. Shipley definitely gave me a thirst for it’

‘On the day I took more than at virtually any other day at a market I’ve done since... I’ve gone on to get a regular stall at the market. It’s not going to make me a millionaire, but the opportunity to trade at a market is the backbone to what I do now and I am looking for other opportunities while I trade there’

Case study: Life of Pie Richard Steer from the Little Yorkshire Pie Company who specialise in quality homemade pies, pasties and baked goods.

‘We had a great time at Love Your Local Market. We’re not entirely new to trading but this was a great opportunity. I can say that we definitely doubled our trade on the day, easily - maybe more. We are going stronger than ever now, despite the tough times and it’s events like this that make the difference between ‘getting by’ and ‘growing’ our business. For us we need more opportunities like Love Your Local Market that brings in new customers who don’t normally use the ordinary markets. That’s where you can actually make some money – the special events like Love Your Local Market, and then the Christmas market, Valentines and Mothers Day and so on… and the farmers markets. The ordinary market just ticks over but it’s these that make the difference. Our plans for the future will be to do another Love Your Local Market definitely, and to keep appearing at local food and craft based events and using our Twitter to do more promotion. We need more of these quality events – because people come to them to buy - if businesses like ours are going to go from ticking over to expansion’

What did Existing Traders say? We interviewed 6 existing traders at Shipley on June 23rd, with offers covering car accessories to Asian clothes, and pies to Fruit and Veg.

Awareness of LYLM was by no means widespread among existing Shipley traders. Those who were aware had been informed via the council’s markets team. Overall, opinion of the concept of LYLM was very much favourable. Traders are aware of the predicament of the town centre and immediately welcome this initiative to showcase the market and bring new spending power into the town

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‘It’s great and we need it to attract more people and more new traders’

‘It’s a good idea. Anything that boosts trade is going to help. It’s tough here. There are only a few shopping centres in the town and this means there’s not lots to bring people in – the market is crucial for this so anything that helps it thrive has got to be good’

‘It’s a very good idea. Anything that gets people into the town and spending is great’

Critically, existing traders believed that the LYLM event on the previous weekend had made a significant boost to footfall and even revenue – in spite of the dire weather. Traders reported an exceptional trading day, ranging from a 25% increase to some referring to doubled or trebled sales.

‘I’ve sold out many times quicker on those two days’

‘I reckon I doubled my sales [last Saturday]. When we were ‘up top’ [of the market] I had sold out halfway through the day. The closer we are to Asda [where most people park], the better the trade for us’

‘I’ve sold three times more than normal. It’s been brilliant. It’s because people can see what’s on offer with the new stalls being away from the old rigid ones’

All existing traders noted a boost to footfall when the New Traders stalls were in operation on the previous weekend:

‘Yes, it was maybe half as busy again on the days when there were the gazebos stalls up’

‘It was busier on the Saturday and the Friday just gone, perhaps by 25%’

‘Yes, perhaps an extra 30% or so on that weekend’

‘It was busier on the Saturday, maybe by 20%’

Everyone recognised that the LYLM event had suffered from dire weather, and would have been even more successful in better conditions:

‘No downside, the only issue is the weather’

‘No, it is much better than I thought it would be – well done to all involved, despite the weather’

Like shoppers, most traders, felt that it was too early to predict the long-term impact of LYLM.

‘You can’t say as it’s too short notice’

‘I couldn’t say, but if it was regular it would make some difference surely?’

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Attitude towards New Traders In line with the view from other markets, existing traders were happy to welcome New Traders - so long as they don’t provide direct competition. In fact, there was less concern than we found at other markets such as Bolton and Fleetwood, where existing traders expressed suspicion.

‘More stalls equals more people. The more the merrier’

‘Yes, they are okay as long as they are not competing – it depends on what the stall is, if it’s something that will thrive from competition and push up the quality of the offer then that’s fine, but if it’s just going to divide the trade then that won’t be good for either – it needs careful management. Anyway, it’s the new and the different rather than more of the same that will make the difference’

‘Also, you need a lot of new traders if you are going to get even a few to survive. We had a few down here who just packed up – they couldn’t hack the weather and there’s one thing you need to be a market trader and that’s toughness!’

Restaging Love Your Local Market All existing traders interviewed felt the event should be repeated, hoping a future event could address the issue of improvement and investment in the market. As in other markets there was a wish to stage LYLM events more frequently than once a year, and to drive the events with more vigorous promotion.

‘Yes, we should have it every month. But also consider how long it is, it’s really only been the two main days where we’ve seen the full number of New Traders and the pop-up stalls. Obviously today they aren’t here because of the weather’

‘It should be monthly, otherwise people will lose interest’

‘Yes, but the event, and the market itself, needs more investment and more advertising’

There was a deal of excitement that the LYLM experiment in providing a new market and effectively creating a new shopping street had been successful and encouraged fresh thinking about improving and investing in the market. There were some practical suggestions that the council might wish to consider further.

‘Get the permanent market closer to the shops like last weekend [when the pop up stalls were in place]. That works really well’

‘Get more stalls in full time – one of each like a traditional sweet stall, a bakers etc.’

‘Move the market permanently to be parallel to the shops – that way both the shops and the traders would benefit. You could do it on both sides of the marketplace’

‘It would be great if we could have some proper roof or canopy over the centre of the market. This would also encourage more people to come and visit the existing stalls’

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‘Why not get Asda to help out with the costs of a canopy. They are rolling in it and taking some of our trade. At least the council could work with them to support the town as a whole’

‘We have concerns about the review of the market that has been announced and what that might mean for us. There is talk of moving to gazebos from the wooden stalls here and we think that would be a mistake. The council needs to invest in the physical infrastructure of the market and the Market Place which is so important to the town’

What did shopkeepers say? In Shipley we interviewed six shopkeepers of premises located around the Market Place. Shopkeepers had heard about the market from Yvonne Crossley, Town Centre Manager, demonstrating a good partnership between two branches of the council: the markets team and TCM. The majority of shopkeepers regard Love Your Local Market as an excellent and helpful initiative: ‘Seems great to me. It seems it’s only mobile phone shops, betting shops, and charity shops opening and we need to move on from that’

One shopkeeper located at the north end of the Market Place, while conceding that LYLM was a good idea in principle, was irate at the location of the new stalls within the Market Place which he claimed was taking his trade away:

‘It cut the town in half and took everybody away from my shop. The market effectively moved and nobody knew where to shop!’

His claim may be exaggerated, but it does highlight the importance of considering the law of unforeseen consequences in planning for an event like LYLM.

Impact on footfall and sales in the town centre All shopkeepers noted that the town centre was busier during the two weekend days when temporary LYLM stalls were very visible, with estimates of an increase of 10% to 20% on the Friday, and 20 to 30% on the Saturday.

‘Can’t really be sure – it was certainly a lot busier than usual, but only over this [South] end… If I absolutely had to say, then perhaps 10% perhaps 20% on the Saturday’

‘Yes, it was much busier last Friday and Saturday than a typical market day’

‘It was definitely busier though. I think the closer you got to it, the more of an impact it had’

Shopkeepers found it difficult to assess the impact of LYLM on sales with any confidence. The feeling was that the presence of additional stalls across a weekend of very poor weather had probably meant that a potentially disastrous weekend for shopkeepers had been transformed into a weekend of average takings – not a bad outcome.

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‘There were more people in here than a normal Saturday and it was rubbish weather - so it must have had some effect’

‘We were around the same [turnover]. If it had been dry then it would no doubt have been at least 20% better’

‘There were more people around than I would expect on such a miserable day’

Some shopkeepers were aware that they run the kind of retailer that doesn’t benefit from ‘passing trade’:

‘Probably not [increased sales] as we are not really the kind of shop where you pop in and buy a carriage clock or a ring’

‘We are over the other side [of the Market Place]and we are a new businesses, so maybe people saw us and thought, we might come back next time. Let’s hope so’

All shopkeepers identified a need for investment in the infrastructure of Shipley Market, both indoors and outdoors, for the benefit of the town centre as well as the market itself.

‘We need to free up central space in the Market Place for car parking’

‘At the moment the stalls are a bit sad. It could be so much more of a feature here. The way it works with the surrounding shops like ours could be so much better’

‘The indoor market is being managed much better these days. But outside it looks cheap’

Restaging Love Your Local Market All shopkeepers felt that it should be repeated but as more of an event:

‘Better weather. Okay, seriously? More entertainment. Family things’

‘Yes every week!!!! Realistically every couple of months?’

‘Absolutely, it’s really good, and it’s a good start this year, but I’d like to see more of this type of event to animate the town centre’

‘Quarterly?’

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There was one negative comment:

‘Yes, but only if it doesn’t cut us off down here [North side of the market place]. There needs to be no empty space in the whole market place for it to work properly’

Like other types of interviewee, most ideas for enhancement focused on more active promotion of the event. Locally, the location of New Traders was also a point of debate

‘More advertising. I can put posters up in my shop’

‘I think more advertising, posters round town, and particularly leafleting would all help… both of people’s houses locally and in the town centre the week before’

‘There were some really good stalls, and the location of them was good for that side of the market place. But positioning some this [east] side would also be good, so that all existing shops get the benefit’

‘I think one way of maximising the value is letting us know sooner and then we can plan a better. You know, it would be great to get some wine tastings going, or at Christmas doing mulled wine that compliments the food [stalls]’

There were also comments about the need to attract genuine ‘virgin traders’ rather than those that had some trading experience, but were new to Shipley.

‘We need it to attract entirely New Traders. I know quite a lot of them were from elsewhere. It would be good if we could bring in lots of new people… new to markets altogether’

What did market managers say? The Bradford market management team had engaged energetically with the event and had done considerable organisational and promotional work at short notice. They were positive about the event and the work of NABMA and the other partners in getting Love Your Local Market off the ground at short notice.

They recognise some key areas for improvement if LYLM is to be repeated in future years, focusing on the potential of linking the event locally to schools and the benefits of healthy eating:

‘It would be great if we could have it [LYLM] over a school holiday–then we could link fresh food and kids activities to kids’ health, food demonstrations, and present the market as the place to get all of these things on a day out’

As for other markets, more vigorous promotion, and the timing of the event were both indentified as key factors:

‘More notice to allow for better planning for next year’s event!’

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‘It’s good to have an [event] at this time of the year as we have a lot on at Christmas. But for a successful market, we need to keep the promotion up year round’

They also recognise limited personnel and other resources as a constraining factor for some markets wanting to participate in LYLM – probably more for smaller markets than for Bradford.

‘It might be that some authorities are stretched if they have multi-market sites. If so, how can LYLM and NABMA help these authorities use their resources to best effect?’

‘Trade for a tenner? Our market is £10.50 a day anyway! I can imagine in some markets £10 makes it more accessible, but for us we were able to use it as a marketing hook… I suspect a lot of people who might want to start a business or become a trader don’t know it’s that cheap’

In spite of putting forward various ideas for future events, Bradford markets management are convinced of the value of the LYLM initiative, and immediately pledged to run an equivalent event in 2013.

‘Bradford, will be staging the event next year, regardless of any decision to continue it at a national level’ 5 Appendices

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Love Your Local Market 2012 Recommendations for the future

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Recommendations for Love Your Local Market

In the course of this research project we distilled many recommendations for enhancing Love Your Local Market in the future – many direct from stakeholders, and some based on findings from our analysis. In this section we present those that we believe would add the greatest value for 2013 and beyond.

What does good look like? For the inaugural LYLM participating markets were left to configure their own LYLM event, creating a plethora of different approaches, activities, and levels of support. For the future it would help to distil the best from this spectrum into a Best Practice for Love Your Local Market guide. Markets would still be able to configure their own event to suit local preferences, but would at least have knowledge of what had been effective across the 220 participating markets.

More effective promotion of LYLM Observation from our fieldwork is that at most markets awareness of LYLM was patchy among traders and very low among shoppers. At Bolton, where the project was supported by a serious promotional budget and an active management team, awareness and expectation were much higher.

For the future all stakeholders identified bigger and more effective promotion as the new must-have ingredient for 2013. Some asked for a national campaign to position LYLM as a destination event for market lovers. Everywhere stakeholders want promotion to be aimed more at residents and visitors rather than at market professionals.

Some suggested that market traders and nearby shops could become ambassadors for LYLM, to supplement social media and local press.

Marketing collateral easily available to markets Market managers asked that NABMA should produce a central store of LYLM promotional material (such as banners, flags, flyers, posters etc) that managers could call for or pay for. The logic is that this would make it easier for any market to access good promotional material and that central commissioning would achieve economies of scale.

Wider Support for New Traders For many New Traders, even very promising ones, the ‘Trade for a Tenner’ proposition is not enough on its own. The biggest request from New Traders interviewed by ROI Team was for wider support such as business training, stock ordering and management etc; and also continuation counselling for some who had no idea what to do when LYLM came to an end. We observed that equipment provided to New Traders at some markets was inadequate for the weather conditions.

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The NMTF First Pitch package, which was in development during LYLM has achieved high levels of awareness and might be the starting point for a wider support package for New Traders.

Independent measurement of market performance We were surprised by the lack of means for measuring basic KPI’s for markets, such as footfall and turnover. In other retail sectors these are regarded as the essential measures of any initiative or campaign. Measurement does not need to be in place in all markets; just in a handful selected as bellwethers for markets around the country. We strongly recommend that NABMA should investigate independent measurement of the sector in this way, where two existing service providers can provide a starting point for developing a system.

Extending the Love Your Local Market brand Most markets still regard LYLM as a self-contained event brought to them once or twice a year. A few though recognise that the brand can have currency right through the year, and have organised their own LYLM events and launches outside the 2 week summer window. ROI Team believe this should be encouraged and supported. Maybe the Best Practice for Love Your Local Market guide suggested above should also provide some ideas and templates for ongoing LYLM activity.

Taking Love Your Local Market into the community LYLM was widely praised for its potential for offering work and training opportunities for young people – meaning people in education as well as people looking for work. Some markets showed great imagination in bringing schools, colleges, and Job Centres into their LYLM festival – and usually with great success. For the future we recommend that these places should be part of the event planning process, and that templates for successful integration should be made available to market managers.

Traders learn from traders During our fieldwork trips we observed that many New Traders had very good skills for presenting their offer and in particular for engaging with potential customers at their stalls. In many respects the New Trader stalls were more attractive and more inviting than those of existing traders. This suggests that existing traders can learn new tricks from New Traders – as well as the obvious transfer of trading skills from existing to New. But market managers may need to use their skills to introduce this idea to existing traders, many of whom do not seem to believe they could learn new abilities in this way.

More of Love Your Local Market There was overwhelming agreement from stakeholders that Love Your Local Market is an event well worth repeating. In fact all stakeholders believe that LYLM should be staged more frequently in future years, with requests ranging from monthly to twice a year. We recommend that more frequent repetition of LYLM should be a judgement made locally, recognizing that many markets struggle to stage the event even once per year.

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Credentials

ROI Team ROI Team (www.roiteam.co.uk) is a research consultancy that devises and manages programmes of research to provide hard evidence that enables clients to make well informed commercial decisions.

Understanding of consumer behaviour is our core currency. Consumers as shoppers on the high street and the internet; consumers of NHS medical services; and consumers of broadcast and narrowcast media.

We have been researching behaviour and preferences of shoppers for almost 10 years, including research of markets and market shoppers in: Blackburn Romford Shopping Hall Romford Outdoor Uxbridge Gloucester Chelsea Wood Green

Other clients include retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Harrods, Flying Brands and Best Direct; owners of retail property like Capital & Regional, Cadogan Estates, and Rockspring; the NHS and Department of Health; and media companies such as community TV operator The Life Channel and Thomson Reuters.

ROI Team has also established a reputation for enhancing understanding of the changing dynamics of town centres, and for identifying the changes that visitors and potential visitors are asking for. During the last few years ROI Team has been engaged for tasks relating to town centre change by Uxbridge First, Luton, Middlesbrough and Edgware town centre management.

ROI Team is a recent winner of a WestFocus ‘Enterprising Business Award’.

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MAKE Associates MAKE provides insight and strategy on the future of towns and cities to clients ranging from national and local governments and mayors to town centre partnerships and business improvement districts (see www.makeassociates.com). We are at the cutting edge of contemporary urban thinking, but apply it in practical and deliverable ways and put community and stakeholder participation at the heart of all our research, strategies and masterplans. Our clients say we are professional, but they also say we are fun to work with. In 2010 MAKE Associates founded The StockMKT (www.thestockmkt.com) - the UK’s first true night market, and is now organising other markets for the likes of Kingston, Croydon and York. Many of the submissions to the Portas Review included this idea. This non-profit making and family friendly event demonstrates MAKE’s commitment to practical ways of invigorating the high street and public space, which complements their work at policy level. The venture provides an expert insight into the issues of trader management, consumer demand, event PR and marketing and the sustainability of markets.

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