New artisan market is coming to Rochdale - but regular traders are furious

An artisan market boasting ‘some of the best food and drink producers in the north west’ is coming to Rochdale – but long-standing town centre stallholders are furious about having to give up their pitches once every four weeks.

The market – which will also feature handmade goods, arts and crafts and live music –  will run on the last Saturday of every month from the current outdoor trading site on The Butts.

Pitches will be exclusively reserved for Wilmslow-based operator The Market Company – meaning regular Saturday stallholders will have to make way for the artisan traders.

Rochdale Council and Rochdale Development Agency (RDA) have been trying to boost the fortunes of the outdoor market since severing ties with previous operator Quarterbridge last September.

Councillor John Blundell, the council’s cabinet member for regeneration believes it will be ‘a fantastic addition’ to the town centre.

He said: “The popularity of our other similar events, such as Street Eat and Rochdale Food and Drink festival, shows that there’s a real appetite for high quality, locally produced goods, so I’m sure this will go down really well with our residents.

“Our fantastic indoor traders, including Montagues Café, Rochdale’s Choice Family Butchers, the greengrocers and Jordan’s Eggs will also be selling on the day, so the artisan market promises to be a great regular addition to Rochdale’s packed events calendar.”

However, loyal traders who face having to give up their pitches for one day a month are furious about the plans – particularly since the council stopped running a Friday market for cost reasons.

Alison Melia, who has run a watch and batteries stall on the market for nearly 40 years said: “This is the final straw. This is the lowest of the low. We have done 38 years of Saturdays, and never, ever have I known anything like this.

“Most of our customers are working people and they come on Saturdays for their watches and their straps. This isn’t a hobby for us, there are three people relying on it.

“Why are they giving The Butts to them, why do they have exclusive rights to it? We are specialists in what we do, we are they excluding us?”

RDA has issued notices to traders, signed by market manager David Bellis, advising them that ‘normal trading will not be permitted on the final Saturday of each month’, while hailing the artisan event as ‘a fantastic addition to the town centre’.

Alison says it won’t benefit her stall – and does not believe that artisan goods will prove popular in Rochdale.

“People can’t afford these kind of fancy goods and prices, we had fancy cheese stalls etectera when we were in the huts (on Smith Street)  and they didn’t survive.”

Alison says most traders would not be able to afford the rent even if they were selected to take part in the artisan market  – as fees range between £50 and £80, compared to the usual £15.

 

 

Her views are shared by Barbara Davis, who has run a children’s clothes stall on the market for 21 years, and feels like traders have been ‘walked over’.

She said: “This isn’t a full-time job anymore, it’s going from being a full-time, permanent market to being a part-time job.”

She pleaded with council bosses to talk more to stallholders: “They need to come down and speak to us. We just got a letter saying 'this is what is going to happen'. There’s been no contact between us and the council.”

 

 

Wahid Hussain, who runs a women’s clothes stall added: “Saturday is our main trading day, that’s when people are all off, that’s our main day of the week. This is our livelihood.”

Tariq Mahmod – who sells games, consoles and electical goods – also said Saturday was his busiest day.

“They can’t sort this market out, and now they are bringing other businesses in. They want to concentrate on us traders that have been here through the rough and the smooth, but they are not bothered, they are not interested,” he said.

Denise Valente, is co-founder of The Market Company, which began in Wilmslow and now operates in a number of town’s across the north west, including Preston, Northwich and Urmston.

She says she understood traders misgivings, but believes the artisan market could provide a month-round boost for all traders.

She said: “We are very hopeful it will have a ripple effect to support footfall on all weekends, not just the weekend we are there.

“We are hopeful that the traditional traders who normally trade on that day of the month will see a benefit for the rest of the month.

“This has happened in other towns where we have created this event. I’m hopeful they will see the benefit of it and hopeful that they will come around and we can all work together for the benefit of the town as a whole and there will be lots of positive outcomes.”

Ms Valente added: “Our markets have a real community feel, so we would love to hear businesses from across the borough of Rochdale. We are particularly interested in hearing from food and drink traders and arts and craft producers.”

The artisan market will take place on the last Saturday of every month from 10am to 4pm, starting on Saturday March 30.

Rochdale traders who would like to get involved, can contact Denise Valente on 07789 181677.

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter