Watford Market, indeed hardly any of the market traders seemed to know either. A far cry from the opening day on the 10th October 2014 when one could hardly move with dignitaries and suits adorning the event.

I took a video of the market as it was today, 1 year on and here is a link to the video from last year. Interesting to see the difference. There have been improvements at the market but Andrew Sparrow (Town & Country Markets) has been slow to implement many of them and we're fast approaching another winter without some protection against the elements. Good news though a sound system has been installed so Christmas carols could be on the way very soon!
With yet another debacle on the arrangements for the German Christmas market, poor communications, lack of consultation, absence of loyalty for the existing traders (spending their money on pitches each week) was probably the final nail in the coffin for market manager John. John who has been popular with the traders left today and was understandably not available for me to interview. A market manager from Reading plus another regional representative from Town & Country will be covering until a suitable replacement can be found.
Talking with Damion (junction flowers) and Grant (the footie store) it seems that the market will continue to evolve. Personally (and one shared by others) I believe that the rear section of the containerised section of the market will revert to storage with the front section under the food court continuing for those that need a permanent home. The remaining traders will fair better in the high street and with adequate storage provided at the rear of the market probably prefer to operate there either with fixed pitches or day trading options.
It has certainly been a rocky first year for the market. It's contract renewal time at this moment with a number of traders looking at their options. Changes at the Market are not likely to end anytime soon, but rest assured I will keep you up to date with all the developments as they happen. Look out for another post coming soon with details of the Xmas market. Plans are available from the council and if I can download them I will be posting them as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment