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Events Archive |
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Here we keep records of our reports from past market square events, starting from 11/04/09. |
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Christmas in the Town Centre - Great Improvements! Free Parking - Christmas Lighting - Christmas Trees & Decorations With free parking being offered every Saturday up to New Year, and reduced parking at other times, a determined effort is being made to ensure maximum footfall in the Town Centre this Christmas. Full details of what’s on in Northampton leading up to Christmas are here: http://www.christmasinnorthampton.co.uk/ Free Parking details are here: FREE PARKING Decorating the Market Well-known Northampton market trader and Fruiterer Fitzy Fitzpatrick said: "I must congratulate the present administration at NBC for working with those enthusiastic business people on the Business Improvement District for the Town Centre, the BID, in putting on an excellent display of lights and Christmas trees for the festive season. Rarely has anything like this been done in many long years, and it is good to see the council and local businesses working closely together to put up a good show for the Town Centre". But it’s not all Roses! Read: Christmas Cheer? Not when you can’t talk to customers! ........................................................................................ Traders Retire After 49 Years on Northampton Market! A Special Letter To Traders On Northampton Market: ................................... Other traders to leave the market recently have been Ray Pygall of Premier Books, who has been there since the early 1980's, and left suddenly in mid-October this year; and Keith and Marian of Green Dragon Books, who retired at the end of October after 26 years on Northampton Market. ................................................................. BID To Brighten Up The Marketplace! (Late October 2011) Northampton Town Centre Business Improvement District - The BID - have given the go-ahead for renovation and clean-up of Northampton's Market Square. Many complaints have been heard for some time about the dowdy street furniture in the Square, the bad pavements, and the loose uplifting cobblestones in the road around the Square. This makes for a disheartening experience for regular shoppers, and may well put off newcomers from returning again. Now traders and shopkeepers around the Square can look forward to a more pleasant and attractive working environment, which should also help to bring the customers in, and encourage them to return. .............................................. Clean-up Scheduled for the Market Square! Mr Simpson pointed out that shop occupancy in the Town Centre was on the way up, hopefully this was an indication that confidence in the town centre as a shopping venue was being restored. Free parking all day Sundays in the multi-storey parks would also be an attraction for people to spend a day in the town centre. ................................................... What A Shower! But some were philosophical:
.................................................................. MP to Work on Market Stalls! Not just on any stalls, but working as a full-time member of staff for a day on Fitzy's Fruit & Veg. stalls, from an early start right through the whole day to a late afternoon finish, on Northampton Market, Thursday 18th of August. It promises to be a long and tiring day for the Northampton North MP, said Eamonn 'Fitzy' Fitzpatrick. .............................................................. Northampton Beach a great success with kids... late July 2011. Families are flocking to Northampton Market to take advantage of the free beach which has appeared at the bottom of the Market Square. The usually empty area has been thronged with young mothers and their children around the ‘beach’, actually a 14 X 7 metre rectangular area of play sand some 130 - 150 mm deep, bordered by small sandbags to keep the sand in place. While the children play in the sand mothers can sit in deck chairs all around the beach, chatting pleasantly with each other and keeping an eye on their offspring. Near the beach are a variety of amusements, including a nice helter-skelter, a couple of those large transparent plastic globes that you can get inside to try your skill at walking on water, a trampoline that bounces you rather excitingly high, and of course a jolly train to take you on a tour twice around the market. Completing this seaside fair picture are face-painters, some seaside stalls selling goodies and seafood snacks, loudspeakers playing the crashing of the waves, and a lovely lady stilt walker. ....................................................... Northampton by the Sea - What Sea? It's a Beach! Market Square Extravaganza July 25th to 2nd of August. So in the absence of the Sea, we've brought in a few artist's impressions of what it might have looked like...There will be sand of course, and this will presumably comprise a beach to the fountain. There will be deck chairs to recline in, trees to shelter under from the searing sub-tropical sun, ice creams and chips to enjoy, and even Northampton Rock to buy! The actual size of the beach has not been revealed yet, but space down by the fountain may be rather limited, so get your towels down there early to reserve your places. If it's hot weather there'll be all sorts of jolly sights to see on the beach, with Northamptonians arraying themselves in an interesting variety of holiday wear. Traders have expressed optimism about the beach bringing in extra trade, and some of the more young and handsome market traders are looking out their meanest holiday thongs for the event. It should be worth coming in just for the magnificent spectacle of Northampton Beach alone, even if you can't get more than a few minutes in the fountain. Northampton only has this beach for a little over a week, so make the very most of it while it lasts. Visit every day if you can, and bring the kids, it's a family show. Sure saves an expensive trip to the seaside, too. In these hard times when money is tight what more can you ask for when the beach comes to you! Congratulations to all concerned in the BID for having the initiative to bring the beach to Northampton; lets hope it brings everyone in to have a good time, and increases trade on the Market and in the Town Centre Shops. ........................................... The future for Northampton Market - Report of the Traders' General Meeting 01/06/2011. Cllr Hadland said he wanted everyone to be in the picture regarding the Market and the Town Centre. Amongst improvements for the Town Centre was the introduction of free one-hour parking at certain times. This in itself would generate good publicity for the Town Centre. Another promotion would be via the BID, or Business Improvement District, which was gathering pace and would be actively involved in improving the town centre.Cllr Hadland said that it would be good if the market traders could be involved as members of the BID, as market businesses were at the heart of the town. Asked about any plans to move the market again, Cllr Hadland said there were no plans for this. It was important that the present market should be stabilised, and trade improved, before any new ideas were discussed. Councillor Penny Flavell said it was hoped that in the near future buses would again be able to drop off and pick up shoppers in the streets of the town, rather than only in the bus station, as at present. When this improvement took place both market traders and shops would benefit. Councillor Hadland said that it was likely that initially at least part of Abington Street would be opened up to traffic. Traders can be assured there will be no sudden moves or changes of market layout, and no reallocations as a result. Full Report. .............................. If there are Councillors reading this who are looking for ideas for cutting down on costs and inefficiency, please contact the market traders’ committee, which will be only too pleased to assist. .................................................................... Good News for Northampton Market Traders... At a meeting of market traders and market management in the Northampton Guildhall on 11th May, Town Centre Manager Derrick Simpson had several items of good cheer for Northampton traders. The first was that, as many people already knew, the previous NBC administration of Liberal Democrats had been replaced on May 5th by a mainly Conservative council, who it was hoped would be more sympathetic towards the market. (Traders had found the Liberal Democrats very difficult to work with; they had moved the market against the wishes of some 11,000 town centre shoppers back in 2009, and against the advice of the traders themselves. The result has been the half-empty market we have left today). See Lib-Dem Turkeys slaughtered in local elections. Another piece of good news, at least from the traders’ point of view, was that the Events staff had been cut down by 60%, and funding had been cut by 40%. This meant there would be fewer noisy disruptive market square events of the kind loudly complained about by traders over the last two years, but beloved of the arrogant Liberal Democrats. It was hoped these would be replaced by smaller quieter events which would not have an adverse impact upon the market trade. Matt Pearson, head of Events, told the traders that 90% of what noisy events were planned would take place on Sundays, when there is no market. This statement was well received. £600 donated from the ‘Blink’ festival, which disrupted the market last summer, had eventually found its way to NBC, and traders were asked what should be done with it to benefit the market generally. The market traders branch committee had proposed last year that NBC use it for Christmas lights and decorations for the market, but the money had not been received in time for this to be done. Discussion at the meeting showed the idea of Christmas lights was still popular. ......................... A statement issued by the Northampton Branch of the National Market Traders’ Federation said they welcomed the arrival of a new set of Councillors in NBC, and expressed the hope that traders and council could now work together for the betterment of the market and the town centre. “So far as we are concerned these new Councillors start with a clean sheet, and we hope that we can meet with them soon after they have settled themselves in, and help to plan for the future of the market. Nobody is expecting miracles, but it would be good to work with the council again, to build a better market, a market that Northampton can be proud of”. ........................................................................... Some recent interesting information about Events, at least from the traders’ point of view, is that the Events staff have been cut down by 60%, and funding has been cut by 40%. This means there will be fewer noisy disruptive market square events of the kind loudly complained about by traders over the last two years, but beloved of the arrogant Liberal Democrats. It was hoped these would be replaced by smaller quieter events which would not have an adverse impact upon the market trade. Matt Pearson, head of Events, told the traders at a meeting on May 11th 2011 that 90% of what noisy events were planned would take place on Sundays, when there is no market. This statement was well received by the traders. ................................................................ The Northampton Market Square Events Team have been awoken from paid winter hibernation at last! ........................................................ Wake Up, Events Team! Get Your Fingers Out! (February 28th 2011) The Northampton Market Square Events Team must still be in paid winter hibernation, judging by the old curling Christmas posters which still adorn the two nice big new noticeboards on our Market Square. What would you think of this, as a visitor to our Town Centre? ............................................................. No Big Changes... ................................................................................. Market Traders & Market Staff Help Animals In Need! Picture of the Animals In Need market stall here. See the Animals In Need website here. ......................................................................................... Christmas Markets... This should be a good opportunity for customers to come into the Town Centre for the day, browse around the sales in the shops and the market, perhaps have a meal in town, and wander back home pleased with their day out. With the benefit of Free Parking in the Mayorhold Shoppers Car Park it is hoped Tuesday 28th will start the after-Christmas week with a busy day for shoppers, as many stores will be open for sales all this week, and probably the busiest day will be on Tuesday. ............................................................... Good News for Traders as Town Centre Manager announces: “No changes to market layout at the present time” At a Traders Meeting at Northampton Guildhall, 08/09/10, called by Town Centre Manager Derrick Simpson, Northampton Market Traders were told that there would be no changes to the market layout, at least for the present. This was good news, as many traders were worried they might have to suffer the upheavals of yet another layout change during the coming winter, together with the complete reallocation of stalls such a change would bring. Such changes are usually very bad for trade. A recent survey - see link below - has shown that even now, 18 months after the big move to the top end of the market square, over 60% of traders are taking less than before they were moved. Since the move a number of long- standing traders have left, and it was feared that another move would further diminish the ranks. It is hoped that a period of stability will now give the market more time to recover and rebuild itself, attracting new traders and new customers. According to the survey results, the market square events of the last 18 months, while increasing recorded footfall in the events area, do not appear to have increased shopping on the market itself, and the majority of traders are taking less than they were before the events started. ................................................................ Talent Show goes well, but doesn't bring in the customers... Whether by accident or design the event finished a little early, which was really fortunate in view of the torrential downpour which lashed the Market Square from around 3.30 PM onwards. The biggest complaint from traders was that although the event appeared to have brought some people in, they did not seem to be spending money on the market. Indeed, some traders pointed out that once again a musical event had 'Cleared the Market' by drawing people quickly down through the market to see what was going on at the bottom, to the obvious detriment of trade. It was felt that musical events and markets do not mix, and should be kept separate. If NBC gave free parking for the day they would attract even more people. And as they would not be there, all the market traders would be happy. Certainly those musical events which have taken place on Sundays or in the evenings have so far been successful, often attracting more people than when held on market days. ................................................. Mixed views on Dog Show (21st August). Traders gave mixed views when asked about this year’s Dog Show on the Market Square. Some traders felt that the dog show had quickly drawn people down through the market to the events area, and that stall-holders had not benefited from the increased numbers of people about. Blink Festival - Market Verdict It is with some relief that traders have moved back to their regular positions after the upheaval involved in clearing the centre of the market for the Blink festival. Talking with traders, we have not found anyone who said that the 'sculpture' of steel rods and blue ribbons sat in the middle of the market had improved trade at all. Indeed, several traders found themselves taking less than usual, particularly those unfortunates who had to move to make room for this nonsense. Some of these traders were 50% down on their average takings, and so far there has been no compensation. The imposition of this piece of abstract 'sculpture' onto the regular market, moving traders aside to inferior positions as if they count for nothing, and so far without compensation, must not be allowed to happen again. It could perhaps have only ever happened under the present Liberal Democrat regime, which has shown it has little time for Northampton's historic market by moving it well over a year ago, against the wishes of 11,000 shoppers, and has since kicked it about by imposing intrusive events upon the market square, events which have not helped but have often hindered trade upon the market. Thankfully one of the political architects of this fiasco has resigned, and hopefully the others will either follow suit or be kicked out en bloc next May in the local elections. Some traders, and also some shoppers, have commented about how much more open the market looked with an events area in the middle. If a central events area is preferred by the great majority of traders, and the town centre shoppers themselves, then a central open area could be permanently the case. After proper consultations with everyone involved, of course, including the shoppers of Northampton. .............................................. Blink Festival Latest - Traders' Art Exhibit Wrecked by Council! After a couple of Saturdays with nice shopping events, an Antiques market and a Continental market, this last Saturday was the first of the Blink festival. We had hoped to put at the top here a picture of the abstract exhibit which is currently on the centre of the Square, but this has had to take a back seat due to a traders news item. Sadly the first Saturday of the ‘festival’ was marred by the deliberate destruction of an abstract work of art exhibited (unofficially) by our market traders. Inspired by the abstract sculptures of Laura Ellen Bacon, at present exhibiting in the centre of Northampton Market, market traders put together their own abstract exhibit, called 'Spirit of the Market'. This exhibit was shown at the edge of the central events area all Friday afternoon (23/07/10). Considerable interest was shown in the work, and local visiting arty people discussed it with nearby market traders and artists, and photographs were taken. The exhibit was after the neo-conceptual style, with the base artefact being a market trestle. The exhibit was stored overnight, but when it was taken out on Saturday morning council workmen were ordered to destroy it. Protests from traders were ignored, and the exhibit was returned to them, totally wrecked, in the afternoon. See our before and and after photographs: Traders Exhibit Traders' Committee Chair Chris Domansky said: "I was appalled and angry at the destruction of this artistic abstract work the traders had put together. The council now owe us not only an apology, but need to replace those items that people had bought or borrowed. As usual we were not consulted before the exhibit was destroyed. We shall built a bigger and better one. Why should traders not contribute to an artistic event?" ............................................. Morris Dancers Make A Pleasant Difference! On Saturday July 3rd Morris dancing took place against the historic backdrop of some of the oldest buildings on the Market Square, and provided a lovely moving picture on a warm sunny day. All traders spoken to agreed it was really good to see the Morris Dancing event on the Market Square. Our traders liked them, they did not interrupt trade in any way, and they provided a magnificently colourful spectacle of lovely traditional costumes and dancing. As one trader said: 'This is a great piece of English heritage, a live performance that fits in well against the background of the Market Square. It is the sort of traditional event you might expect to see on any English market square over the last couple of hundred years'. Another remarked: 'This is nice to watch for traders and customers alike. It's a bit of Old England come back, and visitors love it. They should try to put this sort of thing on several times a year, instead of noisy bands. All my customers paused to look at the dancing, but I never lost a customer'. The Morris dancers brought their own music, and this was traditional music on a human scale, so there were no complaints like we've been getting in recent weeks about music turned up too loud. The event went off very well. Congratulations to the organisers, and let's have more like it. In fact the only sad thing was that it was all over so quickly, and traders - and customers - kept asking if there would be a further performance later on. Alas, after performing at several town centre venues here in Northampton, the Morris dancers had to move on afterwards to other towns within the county. ................................................ Armed Forces Day Spoiled by Noisy Events Team! Once again the market events team had the volume turned up far too loud, this time at the Armed Forces Day event on the market square, Saturday 26th June. Once again traders had difficulty talking with their customers, even difficulty hearing orders shouted across the fruit stalls. One fruit trader told us: "The noise was so loud my guys had to give up shouting the gear. Then when the music stopped for a minute or two, we started shouting again. When the music started we had to stop again, as nobody could hear us. It went on like that for hours. It was crazy to have it turned up so loud. The music itself was not so bad, it was just being amplified far too loud. Thank God it stopped at two o'clock so we could start selling again." Other traders along the front row said the music was ruined by being played far too loud, and had given some people headaches during the three hours it had been on. "The band was great," Said one trader on the front row, "I don't mind swing music, but they spoiled it by being too loud. When that music came out (1940's) it was meant to be played at live band volume, not blasted out through huge loudspeakers. It was great old music spoiled by stupidity. The people responsible should be replaced by people who know music." Another front row trader said that customers had to wait until the music stopped for a minute or so before they could request items or ask for advice. When the music started again the customers could not be heard speaking. " I have no dislike of the music, especially for Armed Forces Day, but there was absolutely no need to blast it out so loud that it was ruined. Why make life a misery for us (traders) on such a nice day?" Asked if anyone had requested the music to be turned down, a trader said: "What's the point? Last week I asked for it to be turned down, and they did for a few minutes, then one of the events team waved her arms and shouted: "Lets have some volume! Bring it up! Bring it up - lets have some volume!" and then it was turned up even louder than before. Asked who had done this, he replied "I don't know any names - it was the mad one!" We've no idea who this could be, of course, but if you have, email us and let us know. There is a strong likelihood that the new market traders committee will be asking for the market square events team to go before the NBC Scrutiny Committee, as it is obvious that livelihoods are being threatened by lost sales and trade is being turned away from the market by events that are unnecessarily and painfully loud. Why should traders have to pay higher rents on Saturdays to be subjected to this kind of physical torture? But if a few thoughtless or ignorant and ruthless people are given complete control of whether traders lives are to be a misery or not every Saturday, regardless of what traders feel about the matter, then that is a kind of Fascism, a dictatorship of the oppressed, and must be opposed by every decent person. This is what our fathers and our grandfathers fought against. This is why we have an Armed Forces Day, to remind us of the sacrifices made in the past that we might live free from oppression. Next May if things do not improve there will be a massive public Vote of No Confidence in the local Liberal Democrat Party, and these turkeys - as Fitzy calls them - will be despatched. There have been many complaints about this sort of noisy event, which annoy traders nearby who have to put up with the noise all day long while attempting to talk to customers, and also annoy traders further up the market by drawing people out of the market rows and down to the event. Some examples: Worst Saturday; Noisy Events Again; Hell on the Grid and only last week: Noisy Bicycle Event all due to the market events team. ......................................... Noisy Bicycle Event Annoys Traders! Loud blaring 'music' to accompany a 'bicycle ballet' and bike spin gym classes annoyed traders for most of the day at the Bicycle Show on the market square last Saturday, June 19th. Quite why the music needed to be played so loud was never discovered, and although the music was turned down temporarily after traders' complaints, it was turned up again not long afterwards, and stayed that way. Communication with customers was difficult. NBC events team must take responsibility for yet another noisy event on a market day, where traders stand to lose trade from prospective customers driven away by loud music. NBC obviously doesn't care if traders lose money. Traders on the front row of stalls facing the event told us they were 'shattered' after a long day with continuous music blasting out, and even traders further up inside the market said that they were suffering from hearing the 'bang - bang - bang' of bass notes most of the day. There were many complaints last year about this sort of noisy event, which annoy traders nearby who have to put up with the noise all day long while attempting to talk to customers, and also annoy traders further up the market by drawing people out of the market rows and down to the event. Some examples: Worst Saturday; Noisy Events Again; Hell on the Grid. For a while late last summer and autumn, after repeated complaints from the market traders' committee, the events team began to see common sense, and began putting noisy events on non-market days, or in the evenings after the traders had gone home. For a while the market returned to some kind of peaceful normality, with only quiet events on during market hours. This year though things have reverted to what they were before, with traders being made to clear their stalls for an arts market on the top rows on June 13th, and with the siting of a 'sculpture' made of leather right in the middle of the market at the end of July for a couple of weeks, which displaces traders to the bottom of the market where their regular customers probably won't find them. Now we have noisy events starting up again, so the new market traders committee after the AGM of 23rd of June will be facing the same problems as the last one. It is very obvious that the traders and Northampton Market itself come a poor second in importance to the events on the bottom of the square. Never have the traders had to suffer under such an arrogant self-righteous political crew as those who presently run NBC. Is this intentional? Are NBC deliberately trying to discourage trade on the market? It certainly looks that way to traders who see their older customers having to brave loud pounding music just to try to buy something, and to customers who struggle to make themselves heard over the din. And if you are trading at the top end of the market, you see newcomers to the market hurrying down through the aisles to see what all the noise is about at the bottom, instead of browsing their way down through the rows and hopefully buying gear on the way. It is some small comfort to know that these events and the market square events team itself will be a thing of the past after March next year, when the last government's spendthrift funding which powers these events comes to an end. In a time when the current government is telling us we should be tightening our belts, there will hopefully be no future funding for the sort of ludicrous events that traders have had to put up with for the last year or two, and no room for the sort of people who plan and carry out these noisy events, regardless of the protests of market traders. ................................................... NBC Plans for the Market. Mr Simpson stressed that only two double rows of stalls would now be replaced, instead of the three double rows originally envisaged. The rest of the market would not be touched this year, and not until at least March next year. Mr Simpson said that he would not now be removing boards and trestles from the market until alternatives approved by the traders had been found. Traders acknowledged that this was a sensible decision. Fielding many questions from a roomful of irate traders, Mr Simpson managed admirably to hold the meeting together, and everyone had a chance to make heard their point of view. You can read a full report of the meeting on our Market News pages. Italian Market - Welcome but Expensive! The regular market did not appear to benefit very much, with most traders questioned reporting a quiet time on both days, and putting this down to a quiet period after the Easter holidays. One aspect of the Italian Market layout noted favourably by traders was that the regular market Main Aisle and Mini Aisle continued all the way through the Italian Market, giving some integration and making easier access to both markets. March 2010: Northampton market traders heard recently that the borough council (NBC) which runs the market, is proposing to remove three double rows of traditional stalls in June, and replace them with pop-up gazebos which have relatively poor weatherproofing. In addition NBC also propose removing all the traditional boards and trestles from the market, making traders bring their own tables. Traders' Opposition Urgent Talks Requested Quality Of Market Offer Has Suffered. 'On A Down-bound Train' Deliberate Policy? "Mickey Mouse Market" .............................................. Save The Market! You couldn't make it up! Recently the webmaster of this site was asked, by a Northampton borough council employee, if the phrase 'Save the Market' on this site could be changed... read more at 'You couldn't make it up!’ German Market was a commercial failure! The German Market standing in the bottom half of the Market Square from late November to almost Christmas was a commercial failure for the German traders. Liberal-Democrats still intend to close Town Centre Superloo! After a drive into town, the first thing most people want to do after parking is to use the toilet, but it seems they’ll be right out of luck in Liberal Democrat controlled Northampton, where the best toilets in town - they have won many awards - are set to close after March 31st. Not just the best public toilets in the town centre streets but the only public toilets of any size. See Holding on... For lots more interesting stuff on how the Lib-Dems are running NBC, see the Save Our Services website. How are the Traders finding things now? .......................................... German Market was a commercial failure! The German Market standing in the bottom half of the Market Square from late November to almost Christmas was a commercial failure for the German traders. Only a few stalls did any amount of trade on weekdays, and most did very little. Saturday trade could not carry the week. Traders are always keen to know how others are doing, and many of the German stalls were in full view of our traders during the pre-Christmas period, and on weekdays some were seen to do little trade all day. When we spoke with some of the German and Polish traders, they told us that trade was very poor except on Saturdays when more people with money appeared to be about, and trade improved a little. To be fair, their prices were a great deal higher than Northampton people are used to, and many local people toured the German Market without spending a penny, and even told us so. Most traders felt happy to have them there, as did the council, hoping they would bring the shoppers teeming in, but this did not happen. No shops around the market, or our market traders themselves, reported greatly increased trade over the usual pre - Christmas period. ............................. Liberal Democrats to close Superloo! After a drive into town, the first thing most people want to do after parking is to use the toilet, but it seems they’ll be right out of luck in Liberal Democrat controlled Northampton, where the best toilets in town - they have won many awards - are set to close after March 31st. Not just the best public toilets in the town centre streets but the only public toilets of any size. See Holding on... For lots more interesting stuff on how the Lib-Dems are running NBC, see the Save Our Services website. ................................................ Liberal Democrats Back-pedalling Furiously! (Christmas Week 2009) After news broke here at the start of this week that the Liberal Democrats were about to close the Superloo Town Centre toilets, they have been back-pedalling furiously to deny this, saying that now, although they will still be closing the Superloo, it won’t be until the end of the the financial year in March 2010. Our thanks to the Chronicle & Echo for publicising the closure, and to those local councillors who brought pressure to bear. After a drive into town, the first thing most people want to do after parking is to use the toilet, but it seems they’ll be right out of luck in Liberal Democrat controlled Northampton, where the best toilets in town - they have won many awards - are set to close after March 31st. Not just the best public toilets in the town centre streets but the only public toilets of any size.This in a town whose council aspire to it being a City! Perhaps they want it to be the first City in the UK without public toilets? Dirtiest City in the UK? What a claim to fame! When NBC said they would eventually be closing the public toilets - this was several months ago - they said they would be replacing them with a list of private toilets available to the public in shops, pubs, and council offices, based on the Richmond model. So far there hasn’t been a word about these proposed replacements - perhaps they don’t exist? Once again a very bad show on the part of the Liberal Democrats, and one not likely to endear their candidates to the public in the next General Election! Market traders and shoppers will be campaigning to reopen the Superloo if it closes. For more details see Holding on... ................................ German Market - First two weeks... During the second week it attracted a few customers into the marketplace, but didn't start to look busy until Friday 4th and Saturday 5th of December, when it was apparent that extra people had come into town and were sampling the German wares on display. Some of our traders reported a bit of spin-off on those days. The German market stays open to 9 PM every night, and although it does a bit on Friday and particularly Saturday nights, most evenings are pretty quiet. Our man came down on a Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings around 7 - 8 PM, and found the marketplace pretty well deserted of people, with far more staff than customers on the German market. Perhaps it will get busier as we get closer to Christmas, who knows. Meanwhile, soldier on, meine Kameraden ........................... Italian Market - It went down well, but was a bit expensive to swallow... One reported reason for some of the spin-off was the high price of most of the Italian Market goods. With many delicacies priced at £1.90+ for 100 grams, and some even more than this, most people who were buying appeared to buying small quantities. Even everyday items like bread were expensive, often at £2.50 a loaf. Some formidable Italian cheeses were on display at around £25 a kilo, but whether many were sold is another story. So some of our traders inevitably got a bit of trade from people who couldn't afford much Italian gear. Luckily the weather stayed good for the most part, which was just as well considering the flimsiness of the Italians' stalls. One good gale and they'd have taken to the skies! The German Market is coming soon, for about a month. See the 'Coming Soon...' link above for more details. We expect their stalls will be a great deal better constructed .................................................................... Saturday September 26th saw 'Take a Fresh Look at Northampton Market'. Thanks must go to those traders' committee members who put in hours and hours of hard work and co-operation with the events team and the market office to make this day a success; thanks also to the events team and to the market officers, and to all those market traders who participated on the day. ......................... On September 12th we had a nice little Antiques Market on the bottom part of the Square. This was a genuine 'shopping event' of the kind the market traders have been asking for, and it was certainly a success. We had a nice crowd around the antique and bric-a-brac stalls, many of whom probably came into the town centre especially for this event. Some trade spilled over into the general market stalls nearby, and several traders near the event mentioned they had seen an increase in trade. .................................... Saturday 29th August. Saturday 22nd August: It was the Companion Dog Show, which looks like becoming an annual event. A great many pooches of all shapes and sizes brought their owners into town, and the bottom of the Square was quite crowded with people as well as dogs. Well done Senior Market Officer Jane Spence and her team, who organised the event, and raised £538 for the local charity Animals In Need. See: http://www.animals-in-need.org/ People love to see a dog show, and the event was well attended. Caterers and some Fruit & Veg. traders reported a bit of an increase in trade on the day, which is good news, but most traders said trade stayed about average. ................................................ Friday 21st August brought a curious local BBC event. Apparently the purpose was to make people aware of identity theft and identity fraud, and featured the destruction of dozens of computer hard disk drives, which were first hand-drilled and then run over by a motor roller which, because it was a small lightweight one, didn’t make much impression at all. Although the idea behind the show may have been good, it was quite a ludicrous exhibition to anyone who has worked in data destruction. They don’t really do it like this, folks! The links below will give you a better idea of how it’s really done: You want to D-I-Y? check this: http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml ..................................................... Saturday 15th August saw the Shoe Festival Parade around the Town Centre ending in the Square, watched by a great many people. The size of the crowd was quite surprising considering there were other big attractions on the same day; with the Balloon Festival on at Billing, and the Umbrella Fair taking place on the Racecourse Park. Traders who were asked said that despite the crowded bottom half of the Square trade was only that of a usual Saturday, and nothing to get excited about, although caterers reported a marked improvement. .................................. Friday 14th August saw a variety of event stalls scattered about in the bottom of the Square, perhaps the most important being those showing the Northampton Central Area Action Plan, which could be discussed with the Planners who manned the stalls. Here the West Northamptonshire Emergent Joint Core Strategy could also be learnedly discussed, if you so wished. The planning people did their patient best to explain their plans, and even the Vision for Northampton’s Town Centre, and it must be said that the maps shown were optimistic with many new and improved facilities for the people of the town. What relationship they bear to future reality cannot at this time be known, but much of what was suggested appeared to be good, but short on detail. ............................................ Saturday 8th August saw a Cookery Demonstration event on the market square, fielded by Richard Fox and colleagues. About a score or more people sat in the ample chairs provided and watched the demo, while as many again hung around watching. http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/compost-bin/ Traders spoken to were quite pleased with this Saturday’s events, and it was nice to go around and get no complaints at all. A couple of traders commented that the parasols with the chairs and tables underneath gave shoppers a much-needed place for a cup of tea and a breather, and it was so much better than seeing a wasted space. Some said trade itself wasn't too good, but at the end of the two traditional holiday weeks what can you really expect? So to summarise, a nicely arranged events day, interesting and informative. Let's have another helping. ........................... July 31st & August 1st. Start of ‘Shoe Town Festival’. ...................... July 25th. Battle of Talavera and Army Parade. Saturday 18th July had no events, so a peaceful shopping day could be enjoyed by both traders and shoppers browsing the stalls. Oddly enough there seemed to be slightly more people about in the market itself, although the traders spoken to said trade was only average or below average for a summer Saturday. One or two traders said they were having a good day, while one or two others said trade was quiet. We did hear trader concerns about the Superloo, which has been opening late and closing early all this week. The first reports of human fouling in the subway walks near the closed toilets were being discussed; an inevitable result of the Liberal Democrat policy of cutting staff hours in the Superloo. We have heard they intend to close the Superloo entirely in September, so these problems of fouling can only get worse. Under the present Liberal Democrat administration the town centre is slip-sliding away to third world conditions. .......................................... Saturday 11th July was billed as a day of dance. People stood around in small groups, watching the varied types of dancers putting on a lively show. Rain stopped the dance area in front of the stage being used at times, and no crowds of any great size came to watch the varied collections of dancers, from about 11 am to early afternoon. Until around 2 PM, when scores and then hundreds of young people arrived for the Flash Mob Northampton zombie dance, a suitable tribute to Michael Jackson. By 2.15 there must have been around a thousand or more people filling more than half the empty space below the market. Apart from the Millennium event, there haven't been crowds like this in the market square since the busy shopping Saturdays in the late 1970's. The zombie dance started toward the bottom of the square, surrounded by a huge crowd of people. It was clear most people had come to spectate, not join in, so it was difficult to get near enough to actually see anything. As with most Flash events, the zombie dance only lasted 15 - 20 minutes, then the huge crowd rapidly dispersed, much of it going up Abington Street to Abington Square, where another set of the dance was performed, which enabled more people to see what was going on. As with the Flash Mob pillow fight earlier in the year everything ran smoothly and with great good humour. Well done once again, Flash Mob Northampton. It is pleasant to report that we got no complaints about noise from the stage throughout the dancing acts that took place earlier. We spoke to most traders in the front rows, and several reported that the events team were doing a good job in checking and monitoring the noise levels. So full marks to whoever in the events team was personally responsible for this. Let us hope we can continue to have this level of cooperation during future events, to our mutual benefit. ........................ Friday 10th July was 'Green Britain Day', or Greenwash day. NBC's contribution to this laughable event was a few small stalls showing a curious combination of goods, from cycles to flower drink sampling, a garden centre stall, and one or two other seemingly disconnected features. It certainly looked an extremely pale green affair, and it was financially supported by a French energy company, Electricité de France (EDF), the biggest corporate producer of nuclear waste in the world. EDF even stole the green Union flag from another company, Britain's Ecotricity, who have now taken out a legal case against them. You can read more about the farce here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/jul/02/edf-green-britain-energy .............................................. Nice Emmaus Event, Shame About The Stage Noise! Early July 2009 Friday 3rd July saw Emmaus, a Christian charity for the homeless, giving an exhibition on the empty area of the market square, showing how to redesign your home on the cheap, using mostly recycled materials. This was an interesting show with many useful practical features. Homemade craft and fair trade imported products were also available from a variety of stalls. Terry Waite, President of Emmaus, was also present for an hour or so in the early afternoon. A jovial imposing figure, he chatted awhile with market committee vice-chair Eamonn 'Fitzy' Fitzpatrick. Emmaus have several centres around the country, and help homeless people find a new purpose in life by giving them work and respect and companionship. Their web site is well worth a visit for its inspiring personal stories: http://www.emmaus.org.uk/ So all in all a nice peaceful quiet event, where most of the time people could wander around and look at things without getting sound-blasted from the stage. (Why do they need that stage at every event, by the way? There's absolutely no need to have any music of any kind with something like the Emmaus event; folks like to walk around and chat with people doing things, and it has to be pretty quiet to do that). Onto this peaceful scene came the well-known Jive Aces, a Scientology jive and swing band, who gave a couple of sets of 1940's 'Swing' music in the afternoon. Half the band seemed to be missing, but they still played well. However, as often happens, the market events team had got the sound levels too high, and we had several complaints from traders in the bottom rows of the market. Some traders appreciated the quality of the band, but were disappointed they played swing instead of more traditional jazz. The events team have a lot of misery to answer for. Every one of the twelve traders we spoke to during the time the music was playing said that it was far too loud. We are left wondering 'Why do these events have to be accompanied by music or noises that are really excessively loud?' What are the logical reasons for this? Are there any? ....................................... It Was Hell on the Grid - Noisy Grand Prix Event! Late June 2009 Traders near the event said the noise levels were far too high, and went on and on for far too long. Traders further away from the din at the bottom of the market said that once again a noisy event had stripped away customers from the market aisles, frightened older people away from the market, and overall had given many traders a very poor day's trading. The only exceptions found were the florists, who both said they were doing reasonably well at the top of the market. Talking with a variety of traders in different areas of the market, the difference a noisy event makes came across very strongly. Those traders near the Grand Prix event said that it was difficult to hear customers talking, and there was a definite shortage of older customers, presumably kept away from the vicinity by the constant noise. Traders in the middle and toward the top of the market said they weren't seeing nearly so many customers as on normal Saturdays. This was put down to the noise from the Grand Prix event keeping some older people away from the market, and the general tendency for anyone coming into the top of the market to rush through to the event at the bottom, to see what all the noise was about. So once again a big thumbs-down for the market events organisers, who continue to hold disastrously noisy events which rob the market of trade and cost traders a great deal of money. Don't these people have any conscience about what they're doing? Apparently not, as they've taken no notice so far.
.................................... Noisy Events Continue to Disrupt Trade Mid-June 2009 Following on from our round-up of the first two months of 'market square events', which didn't win the Events Team many Brownie points, we're giving here a quick run through of what has taken place since on the 'events' scene, and what effects these events had on trade for Northampton market traders. The 'Hands on Science' event of Friday 29th May was hardly earth-shattering, but the two little robots 'fighting' each other proved popular with the half-term kids, as did the large 'Titan' robot dancing about. This big robot fooled an awful lot of people who thought he was a real robot, controlled by a guy with an electronic switchboard. But like many other things that get to be called 'events' on our Market Square, he was a sham; there was a guy inside moving him around. Science ain't that wonderful yet, folks. The same thing happened the day after, when the Spratton mini-festival took over the bottom of the Square. Nobody with responsibility seemed to be in charge of the noise levels, and different acts turned up the sound or turned it down according to how they wanted. Some of them wanted it very loud indeed, which killed trade for traders all over the market. We spoke with about 15 traders on each of these events days, some near the event, some further away in the middle of the market, on the main aisle, and near the top. Nobody in the middle was happy with the way the prospective customers were streaming down through the market to the bottom half of the Square, and nobody near the event was happy with the noise coming directly from the event. Noise kills trade, but this doesn't seem to have got through to the Market Square Events Team yet. Or is this a deliberate Lib-Dem plot to kill the market and have the empty square to themselves? For 5th and 6th of June we had something called Brunomart, a partly French market which almost filled the bottom half of the Square, and at least looked interesting to walk around and explore. But the French did very little trade on the Friday, as prices were so high for Northampton folk. A few punters treated themselves to small quantities at expensive prices. Saturday saw a bit more trade for the French; more people from outside the town seemed to come in to spend a few quid, but this didn't seem to rub off onto our traders except for those near the event, several of whom said they were doing a little better. The Carnival came into town on June 13th, so we had probably the biggest crowd in town for some time; mostly parents with kids who wanted to see the Carnival itself. But most of them must have been on the two hours parking ticket, because as soon as the parade passed the bottom of the market they were off, legging it back to the car parks before the time ran out. Very few even saw the 'event' on the bottom of the Square; a sad collection of artists' stalls, mostly lack-lustre with no signs to indicate what they were supposed to be doing, manned by tired-looking girls who sat well inside and seemed not to engage with passers-by. A notable exception was a large triangular hoarding with some expressive graffiti work going on which merited attention. The music for this 'event' was provided by a guy on steel drums near Burger King playing smooth reggae which was not too loud and helped to float the afternoon along. Traders reported almost average trade around the market, although one couple reported they were having a stinker of a day; average trade is what you get on a dry day when there's no event on, which goes to show that quiet events are better than noisy events, but not better than non-events. The Market Square Events Team haven’t progressed since our last review below: .......................................... Taking Stock - Two Months After... Late May 2009 Some two months after moving the market and putting on occasional events in the huge empty space thus created, Northampton Borough Council and the Market Square Events Team have at last got around to asking traders what they think so far. Not a lot, as you'd probably expect. The majority of the so-called 'events' have passed by completely unnoticed, unless you happened to be walking through the otherwise empty area of the square when they were taking place. Some of them cannot justifiably be called an 'event' in any case. Some have simply been commercial presentations, advertising well-known brands of this and that. Not really an 'event', even for a one-public-lavatory town run by Liberal Democrats. While we are on the subject of asking traders what they think, perhaps we should remind Northampton Borough Council (NBC) that under the terms of their grant application for the £1 Million plus they were given to mess around with the Market Square, they are supposed to consult and interview after each event not only market traders but also town centre shopkeepers, restaurant managers, and publicans on how the event affected their trade. Have they done this? No, apart from the recent form to traders, there is no evidence to suggest they have done anything at all in this direction, and at this year's Market Traders' Annual General Meeting Cllr Richard Church, Portfolio-Holder for Town Centre Regeneration, was given an highlighted copy of his own application form to show him how the terms under which he had got his grant had not been complied with. So far we have not had any event on this huge empty space that could not have been comfortably fitted into the previous 'events area' triangle. So far the Liberal Democrats have not justified moving the market, nor are they likely to. So far we have lost several well-known and respected traders, including a mobile phone merchant they didn't have enough room for, and two long-standing traders of 18 and 27 years on Northampton Market. One of these, Games Machine, had a unique line that we have now lost. See 'Games Machine'. Several traders have had to be moved because they were put in cramped positions in the 'dead zone' of the mini-aisle, and threatened to leave unless they were placed somewhere the public could find them. The meat and fish vans have been hidden away up the west side of the market with stalls all clustered closely around them, instead of being boldly displayed further down on the edge of the huge empty area where people could see them at a distance. They report that their trade has been down by at least a third since the move has shut them off from public view. Traders generally report a loss of trade of between one-third and one-half of what they took before the market was moved, and even after two months we get people wandering up and down looking for stall-holders who have been displaced. Regarding displacement, no steps have been taken so far by NBC and their Market Office to provide any help to the public who have to look for and find traders who may have been moved anywhere. NBC told the last Market Traders' Committee that they would be providing maps for us all showing where everyone was, that we could give out to customers; and they said they would provide large maps of the market stalls layout on the new notice-boards, showing where everyone was. So far they have done none of this, and it’s been two months, and counting... So to summarise, after two months it's a sad story of a huge empty waste space on most days, relieved only occasionally with 'events', some of which are laughable and bring nobody into town; with long-standing traders of good reputation leaving the market, and a string of broken promises to the traders who are left. One feels that if they were deliberately trying to finish off the market they couldn't do it a lot better. Will the market hold out for two more years until the Liberal Democrats are crucified in the Borough Council elections, and hopefully someone more sensible takes over? ................................ Quieter May 2nd Folk Scene goes down better with traders and public After the last big disastrous market event on April 11th - see Events Archive - traders were wondering what to expect from this one. (At the previous April 11th event the market events team had refused to turn the high sound volume down, despite the protests of suffering market traders, some of whom had an incredibly bad day as people avoided the noisy market). But this time the Market Square Events Team actually came around and talked with traders about noise levels before the event took off, and this meant a big improvement in the way the event was run. Of the traders spoken with, almost all of them who were standing in the bottom rows of the market said the music was set at a reasonable level; we had only one complaint that it was too loud. One lady trader said she was pleased the events team had consulted with the traders about the noise levels, and hoped this would become a regular feature of events which involved music. The folk music itself drew praise, as several traders thought it blended in nicely with the market atmosphere, giving a pleasant background ambience. People were stopping to look at gear and even shop, instead of being frightened away. So well done folk band Asha, who helped to make it a pleasant afternoon. (They even had a few people dancing at one point, cold sober in Northampton, on a Saturday afternoon. Now that is something). The rest of the event consisted of a handful of interesting craft stalls where you could join in by learning how to do or make something; but some of these stalls were very badly placed, so they blocked off front row demountable stalls in the middle of the row. It was a bit obvious that nobody with years of market experience had set this lot out; you didn't need to be an ex-Toby to see that. Some traders nearer the event, which was held on the area at the bottom west side of the Square, said they were doing about average for a Northampton Bank Holiday Saturday, and one or two even said they were doing a little better. Of those anywhere near the event, only three stated they were doing worse than usual. The middle of the market, particularly over on the mini-aisle eastern side, was rather a different story. Traders here weren't doing so well, and felt that people hearing the music were hurrying through without pausing to look, intent on getting down to the event. Considering how many stalls in this area were standing empty, this wasn't surprising. The Traders up the main aisle were faring a bit better on average, and at least two said they were doing reasonable trade 'Considering the recession'; although one main aisle trader said he was having a bad day, and that he found most Saturdays were poor now when the high rents were taken into consideration. So, a very mixed bag. Of twenty traders exactly half said they were doing poorly or below average, while exactly half said they were doing about average or even a little better. A lot seemed to depend on where you happened to be standing, and of course what sort of gear you had. One thing everyone seemed to agree on was that there were no more shoppers about than usual for a Saturday, but certainly lots more than there had been at the noisy April 11th event. Let's hope the market events team take note, and can use this information toward planning future events. One curiosity of the afternoon was Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Brendan Glynane, who could be seen haunting the bottom half of the Square like a lofty desperate ghost, dodging about and sporting last month’s copy of Market Trader magazine, from which he showed passers-by a picture of himself and Richard Church posing with Fitzy on the morning of the disastrous April 11th event. (The picture was taken before Fitzy had his worst Bank Holiday Saturday ever, of course). How sad for the Northampton Liberal Democrat Party. .............................. Worst Saturday Ever! Traders record worst Saturday ever at Liberal Democrat Event! Northampton Market Traders had a very bad day on Easter Saturday 11th April, when the first Liberal Democrat arranged event took place on the bottom half of the Market Square, recently cleared of market traders by Lib-Dem plans to revamp the Marketplace. Of seventeen traders spoken to at random, all said they were having a very poor trading day due to the raucous event at the bottom of the square; some said that it was their worst Saturday ever. Only one trader said he was pleased to see the event, but admitted that it wasn't doing his business any good. Some fruit and veg. traders were near to tears; they had stocked up for a busy Easter Saturday, usually a good day in the trade, and now found they had very few customers. Talking with traders, the concensus of opinion seemed to be that the very loud music put off older customers, attracted many people away from the market stalls and down onto the bottom area where they stayed watching the stage, and frightened off regular shoppers entirely. There is no doubt that the music was far too loud, and that no thought had been given to the fact that there was a market involving buyers and sellers taking place not far away. Those who put on the event apparently felt that the louder it was, the better it was. In actual fact, as any discerning person knows, quite the opposite is the case. A good event does not need to be loud; a poor event has to be loud to try to attract people. Some traders along the bottom rows of the market said it was almost impossible to communicate with what few customers they had due to the raucous din. No traders had been consulted about the noise level, not even those closest to the stage; neither had any traders' representatives been consulted. Several prominent Liberal Democrat Cabinet members could be seen swanning about amid the din, preening themselves like turkeys who are as yet unaware of Christmas. Amongst them Woods, carrying all before him yet still managing to scowl; Church, blinking nervously like a man who has rejected massive public opinion; and Glynane, biggest bullshipper of them all, trying to tell anyone who would listen what a fine success it was. The market traders' representatives, both of the present and previous committees, have always pointed out that some kinds of event are bad for trade. These are the noisy events which are best held in the evenings, when shopkeepers and traders have packed away and gone home. NBC have been told by the traders countless times that if you wish to attract shoppers into town, you must provide free parking; and you must put on a decent shopping event. This way you attract shoppers, people who are looking for a bargain, people who have money to spend. These people don't come in to watch a noisy event, they come in to shop. As we have told Cllr Richard “The market is paramount”Church on several occasions: These are the ones with the bags, Richard. If it is the purpose of the Liberal Democrats to cram all of the market traders into the top half of the Market Square while events are held in the bottom half which further rob them of trade, then by these Liberal Democrat standards Saturday's event was an unqualified success. If they held an event like this every week the market would not last a year. It is some relief that they do not have unlimited access to public money, and an even greater relief that in two years time they will be voted out of office. |
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