York’s Shambles Market has won the ‘Best Outdoor Market’ category at this year’s Great British Market Awards, organised by The National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA).
Announced at the prestigious awards ceremony in Birmingham on Thursday 3rd February, Shambles Market Manager Lucy Lines and Senior Market Operations Supervisor Joe Etheridge collected the award.
The National Market Traders Federation and NABMA judged Shambles Market as the Best Outdoor Market, with the awards seeing one of the largest public votes on record.
Simon Baynes MP for Clwyd South and the Chairman of the All-Party Markets Parliamentary Group presented the awards. On winning the award, the judges commented that: “This is a highly popular market in a traditional location with a huge appeal to both locals and has a significant tourist trade. In the not-too-distant past, it was considered to be in somewhat of a decline, but it is a market that has put in a lot of effort to restore a quality market reputation. The market boasts many excellent businesses and collectively, with strong and passionate management, they have enabled the market to re-establish itself in this iconic tourist city. It is a market with a buzz, it is full of traders and is both an attractive tourist and general market with a huge influence on the local economy.”
Lucy Lines, Market Manager at Shambles Market, said: “We are so thrilled to receive this award! Shambles Market has seen a renaissance in recent times with local residents using the market more frequently during the pandemic. York’s community now more than ever have sought out an experience locally with quality goods, produce and an excellent food offer. York residents got behind us by shopping local at the market, supporting our local traders. The support from locals was crucial to winning this award for York, it’s not just for the Shambles markets traders and Make It York to be proud of, this is with huge thanks to the community support too. I’d also like to say a special thank you to First Bus York, who partnered with us last year and have continued to support our vision and helped us bring more customers into the city centre to shop with us. We’re incredibly excited about the future of Shambles Market, with lots of exciting events in the pipeline”
Sarah Loftus, Managing Director at Make It York, said: “We are incredibly proud of our Markets Team for winning the Best Large Outdoor Market in the UK. It is a brilliant achievement and well deserved. Shambles Market is a brilliant example of how locals have continued to support local traders in our city and a huge thank you to all our traders who make Shambles Market such a special asset in York.”
Make It York’s purpose is to develop and promote the city and its surroundings – nationally and internationally – as a vibrant and attractive place to live, visit, study, work and do business. Its mission is to grow the economic prosperity and wider wellbeing of York and its citizens. In practice, this means delivering a range of projects and programmes based around our corporate strategic priorities.
These are:
City positioning and profile-raising
Ensuring an exciting city centre
Delivering the city’s ground-breaking Cultural Strategy
About NABMA
The National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) have been representing and working on behalf of our member markets for more than 100 years. Markets from across the whole of the UK form our membership. NABMA works with a range of organisations including Government to promote and campaign for markets.
As well as the Great British Market awards, NABMA operates annual campaign Love Your Local Market, which takes place in May every year.
To find out more about NABMA visit the website: nabma.com
A new Shambles Market Manager has this week been appointed by Make It York to develop the city’s market and maximise its potential as one of York’s greatest assets. Lucy Lines joins Make It York with a wealth of events and market management experience – including most recently as Market Manager for Trinity Market in Hull.
The new role is part of Make It York’s ongoing commitment to develop and deliver a thriving city centre market and support York’s diverse array of independent traders with the creation of a vibrant and dynamic market hub. Lucy will be leading on a new strategy to drive footfall to Shambles Market, maximise economic potential and deliver a series of community-focused pop-up events. Appointed with support from the York Market Traders Forum, trader representatives were also included on the recruitment advisory panel with a key part of this role being a focus on building on the collaborative partnership-led approach to working with traders.
Lucy has over eleven years’ experience within the sector including leading on the regeneration of Hull’s Trinity Market and transforming it into an inclusive market and community hub. With a background in driving market footfall and supporting local businesses, Lucy has strong experience in revitalising markets through events, community outreach and working in partnership with city-wide arts and music organisations. Prior to this, Lucy also managed the ‘Humber Street’ and ‘Made and Sold in Hull’ Markets and has experience as a licensee, managing numerous bars and night club events in Hull.
Lucy Lines, Shambles Market Manager at Make It York, said: “I am hugely excited about joining the Make It York team to develop the wonderful offering at Shambles Market. There is such a unique range of traders and an incredibly diverse mix of different types of businesses, and I can’t wait to work alongside them to shape plans for the future direction of the market. Shambles Market has a really special atmosphere and I am looking forward to leading the team in the ongoing plans to make this a vibrant hub for residents and visitors to enjoy.”
Greg Dyke, Chair of Make It York, said: “We are delighted to welcome Lucy to the team at Make It York. Lucy has a very strong background in delivering high quality market experiences and we are thrilled to have her on board to lead on our ambitious plans for Shambles Market. We see the market as being one of the city’s greatest assets and in partnership with our ever-growing group of traders we want to continue to build on this and grow it into a world class example of market excellence.”
Kevin Tuohy, Chair of York Marker Traders Forum said: “The YMTF welcome Lucy and look forward to working collaboratively with her to positively develop the Shambles Market. We were very taken with her vast array of experience, knowledge and enthusiasm for all aspects of market life and will look forward to working closely with Lucy and her team. We feel confident that together we can maintain the traditional classic Shambles Market ethos combined with exciting new ideas to help drive the local and tourist economy into the market even more successfully. Good luck Lucy and thanks for joining our community.”
The appointment closely follows on from the new partnership between First Bus York and Make It York to invest in the future of Shambles Market and attract more visitors. Supporting York’s diverse array of independent market traders, the partnership plans include a vibrant and modern new look for the market, new creative marketing promotions and regular pop-up events.
A new partnership between First Bus York and Make It York has been set up to invest in the future of Shambles Market and create a “destination magnet” that attracts more visitors through highlighting a mix of local artisan and traditional vendors plus entertainment.
The partnership’s plan to support York’s diverse array of independent market traders will see a vibrant and modern look for the market, new creative marketing promotions and regular pop-up events.
As one of the city’s greatest assets, Shambles Market is the home to York’s largest group of independent traders – offering an eclectic mix of fresh produce, crafts, flowers, gift ideas, clothing and much more. This includes long-standing produce traders such as John Mannion Greengrocers (whose family have been trading on the market since 1906), local artists such as Ipso Facto Art, ethical soap company Janurelle, Zazen Boutique jewellery and an array of other independent small businesses.
The Shambles Market Food Court is also home to some of the city’s finest street food vendors – including indie businesses such as Taylor Made Kitchen, The Doghouse, Shambles Kitchen, Los Moros, Pizzoli and more.
The partnership with First Bus York is sparked by an ambition to enhance Shambles Market’s reputation as a ‘must-see’ destination for residents and visitors to the city and highlight the unique blend of quirky independent businesses and quality produce available on the market.
First Bus York also supported the Young Market Trader competition earlier this summer. The event saw 20 year-old Millie Thomas with her cake business ‘Sweet Treats by Mil’ going forward to the regional finals of the National Young Market Trader competition and receiving a free pitch on the market for a year.
Now, through the partnership, a vibrant refresh of the market branding is underway with new colourful signage at the entrance and on the stalls. This will emphasise the importance of supporting York businesses and shopping local.
A new short film has also been created to promote the quality local produce available in the market. Under a ‘Field to Fork’ theme the video showcases how the market’s fresh products are used by businesses across the city to deliver a quality customer experience. The video features trader Sheila’s Greengrocers as they collect fresh strawberries each morning which are then used on food court trader KREP’s delicious crepes .
A series of pop-up events are in plan to be introduced to the Market. This included a new ‘Vintage Market’ event this week (31st August) which showcased a range of local vintage traders from around the city including Books for Amnesty, Angela Bare, Sue Ryder, Syd Comerford Antiques and Panayis Cult Art Prints. Bringing together a range of retro, collectable and quirky products, the ‘Vintage Market’ event proved popular with residents and visitors alike, offering something for everyone’s taste, style and price point.
A special ‘Night Market’ will also take place on the evening of 17th September in partnership with York Creatives. The event will see a range of independent traders, street food, drinks and music coming to the market, with free entry for all.
John Godfrey, Head of Marketing at First Bus York, said:
“We’re here to connect customers to great experiences on the streets of York and Shambles Market will become a destination magnet to draw in local people and visitors to discover a special atmosphere for shopping and relaxing that entices them into the heart of the city.”
Ashley Young, Senior Marketing and Communications Manager at Make It York said:
“Shambles Market is home to so many incredibly creative and talented businesses – from long established traders who have been on the market for decades to young entrepreneurs who are just starting out. Our ambition is to work alongside our traders and fantastic partners like First Bus York to grow and develop Shambles Market into one of the most celebrated markets in the country and enhance its reputation as a destination in its own right.
The market offers a truly unique experience for residents and visitors and we are looking forward to developing plans over the coming months to promote it as a world-class destination and support our family of traders.”
Kevin Touhy Chair of York Market Traders Forum and Owner of Bags of Style said:
“The Shambles Market traders welcome the time and support that First Bus have put into promoting the market so excellently. Working together we hope that the market will continue to grow in stature and become an integral part of any York experience for both tourists and locals alike. “
Ana Ignatova – Communications Executive Email: ana.ignatova@makeityork.com
Notes to editors:
About Make It York
Make It York’s purpose is to develop and promote the city and its surroundings – nationally and internationally – as a vibrant and attractive place to live, visit, study, work and do business. Its mission is to grow the economic prosperity and wider wellbeing of York and its citizens. In practice, this means delivering a range of projects and programmes based around our four corporate strategic priorities. These are:
City positioning and profile-raising
Inward Investment and network building
Ensuring an exciting city centre
Delivering the city’s ground-breaking Cultural Strategy
This week (29th June) fourteen young creative entrepreneurs set up their stalls on Shambles Market for the York heats of the National Market Traders’ Federation (NMTF) Young Traders’ Market competition. Five traders were selected to go forward to the regional heats next month in Doncaster, including the overall winner Millie Thomas who runs baked goods business ‘Sweet Treats by Mil’.
The event saw fourteen young traders bringing a diverse array of products to the market – with everything from candles and artwork, to cakes and carnivorous plants. Judged throughout the day on areas such as merchandising, sales skills, communication, pricing and product offer, the independent judging panel was made up of Ellen Harvey from Harvey’s Cheese, Emma Rogers, Selby’s Market Manager, Marc Bichtemann, Managing Director of First Bus York and Brendan Dyson, Field Support Officer at NMTF.
Local York trader Millie Thomas from ‘Sweet Treats by Mil’ was crowned the winner of the event with the judges praising her for the outstanding quality of her product, excellent branding, social media and customer engagement. In addition to the chance to represent Yorkshire in the regional finals next month, Millie also received a year-long pitch on Shambles Market from First Bus York giving her the opportunity to expand her business and customer base in the city.
Millie Thomas, Owner of Sweet Treats by Mil said, “I am delighted to have won the Young Traders Market competition and I can’t wait to represent York in the regional heats next month. I started Sweet Treats by Mil because I had a real passion for baking and creating new recipes and trading on Shambles Market has been a really great way to get out and meet customers and grow the business. It was fantastic to be a part of the competition and meet some of the other amazing young traders and I’d really recommend Shambles Market to other young people looking to kickstart their business.”
The quality of traders on the day was extremely high with four others selected in the ‘highly commended’ category. Joining Sweet Treats by Mil to go forward to the regional heats will be BizzyPig Designs, Moody Mare Patisserie, Best Efforts Gifts and Apricity.
The event was created to offer young entrepreneurs (aged 16-30) an opportunity to showcase their businesses, get in front of new audiences and meet like-minded traders. Winners of the regional heats will go on to have the potential to be crowned Young Trader of the Year 2021 at the NMTF national event in August.
Phil Waines, Market Operations Executive at Make It York said, “The quality of traders that took part in the York heats has been absolutely outstanding and it was great to see the passion and enthusiasm they all had for market trading.
Events like this are hugely important to celebrate the creativity and innovation of young business owners and showcase what a great platform Shambles Market can be for anyone starting out in business. A huge thank you to our judges for taking part in the event, the Cambridge Street band for providing the entertainment and to all the residents and visitors who came along to support the traders.”
Marc Bichtemann, Managing Director of First Bus York, said: “The Shambles Market is another great destination that creates a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere in York. We’re delighted to showcase new talent like Millie among its traders as part of our support for small businesses, which are vital in helping the city’s recovery and attracting local people and visitors.”
Brendan Dyson, Field Support Officer, NMTF said, “The Young Traders Market competition is a fabulous way for young entrepreneurs to showcase their businesses and reach new audiences. It was wonderful to see the diverse array of local young traders taking part in the local York heats with some really unique products on offer. Congratulations to the winners who we look forward to seeing in the regional competition next month!”
(Image Left to Right: Emma Rogers, Selby’s Market Manager, Marc Bichtemann, Managing Director of First Bus York, Millie Thomas, Sweet Treats by Mil, Brendan Dyson, Field Support Officer at NMTF and Phil Waines Make It York)
The Yorkshire regional final will take place on Saturday 31st July in Doncaster.
Make It York’s purpose is to develop and promote the city and its surroundings – nationally and internationally – as a vibrant and attractive place to live, visit, study, work and do business. Its mission is to grow the economic prosperity and wider wellbeing of York and its citizens. In practice, this means delivering a range of projects and programmes based around our four corporate strategic priorities. These are:
City positioning and profile-raising
Inward Investment and network building
Ensuring an exciting city centre
Delivering the city’s ground-breaking Cultural Strategy
A diverse array of young entrepreneurs will be setting up their stalls at Shambles Market on 29th June for the York heats of the National Market Traders’ Federation (NMTF) Young Traders’ Market competition. A range of young traders will be taking part in this special one-day event which will take place on Shambles Market from 9am – with residents and visitors invited to come along and support these local young traders.
Businesses taking part offer a wide range of products including:
Alysha Smith ‘NaturallyAlys’ – selling unique soy wax candles and products
Andrew Rooney – Rooney’s Flytraps – offering carnivorous plants and more
Carrie Doyle; Smunny Girl Prints – selling high quality character prints of film & TV female icons
Laura Muldoon; – selling new and exciting artwork using watercolour
Millie Thomas; Sweet Treats by Mill – with a range of brownies, traybakes and more
Izzy Robinson; Bizzy Pig Designs – offering handmade scrunchies and more
Fran Swann: Apricity Jewellery – selling beautiful gold and silver jewellery
Emma Walker – Moody Mare Patisserie – offering brownies, cupcakes and more
The young traders will be competing against each other on the day to ensure the highest quality customer experiences on their stall – with judges looking at everything from merchandising and sales skills to communication, pricing and product offer. The judging panel on the day will be made up of local business owner Ellen Harvey from Harvey’s Cheese, Emma Rogers Selby’s Market Manager, York’s Town Crier and York Mix presenter Ben Fry and Marc Bichtemann, Managing Director of First Bus York.
The heats are a great prospect for young entrepreneurs (aged 16-30) to showcase their businesses and compete for the chance to represent York at the regional competition in Doncaster in July. As part of their support for local businesses, First Bus York are also offering the winner a year-long pitch on Shambles Market. One trader will be guaranteed a spot on the market each week throughout the year to help them continue to develop their business and customer base.
Winners of the regional heats then have the opportunity to go on to be crowned Young Trader of the Year 2021 at the NMTF national event in August which is a celebration of all young entrepreneurs trading on our nation’s markets, festivals and fairs.
Phil Waines, Market Operations Executive at Make It York said, “The day will be a great opportunity for young traders to get in front of a new audience and meet other like-minded people, with a chance to even go on to be crowned national champion.
We have some fantastic young traders taking part with a real mix of different types of businesses – everything from flytraps and sweet snacks to hair clasps.”
“The event is a real celebration of the creativity and entrepreneurship of the city’s young business owners and we can’t wait to welcome all the traders to Shambles Market!”
As part of the day’s celebrations local funk and jazz band, the ‘Cambridge Street Band’ will be playing a selection of songs throughout the day.
Make It York’s purpose is to develop and promote the city and its surroundings – nationally and internationally – as a vibrant and attractive place to live, visit, study, work and do business. Its mission is to grow the economic prosperity and wider wellbeing of York and its citizens. In practice, this means delivering a range of projects and programmes based around our four corporate strategic priorities. These are:
City positioning and profile-raising
Inward Investment and network building
Ensuring an exciting city centre
Delivering the city’s ground-breaking Cultural Strategy
Young entrepreneurs from across the city are being invited to come and trade at York’s local heats for the National Market Traders’ Federation (NMTF) Young Traders’ Market. Each Sunday throughout June a series of Young Traders events will be taking place on Shambles Market with anyone aged between 16-30 eligible to apply to take part.
The heats give a chance for young entrepreneurs to showcase their business on Shambles Market – with the potential to go forward to represent York at the regional competition in Doncaster in July and go on to be crowned Young Trader of Year 2021 at the NMTF national event in August.
The Young Traders Market celebrates all young entrepreneurs trading on our nation’s markets, festivals and fairs. Anyone aged between 16 and 30 is eligible to participate in the event, with both trading fees and insurance all covered for the competition day.
Phil Waines, Market Operations Executive at Make It York said, “This is a fantastic opportunity for any budding entrepreneurs and young business owners who are looking to showcase their skills. It’s a great chance to meet like-minded people, build confidence, and even go on to be crowned Young Trader of the Year 2021!
The competition is totally free to get involved in and it’s a great way for young traders to get in front of a new audience and kick start their business. We can’t wait to welcome young traders across the city to the heats at Shambles Market and see all the amazing talent of York’s young entrepreneurs.”
Anyone interested in being a part of the Young Traders Market should simply email philip.waines@makeityork.com by 31st May with details of their business.
Make It York’s purpose is to develop and promote the city and its surroundings – nationally and internationally – as a vibrant and attractive place to live, visit, study, work and do business. Its mission is to grow the economic prosperity and wider wellbeing of York and its citizens. In practice, this means delivering a range of projects and programmes based around our four corporate strategic priorities. These are:
City positioning and profile-raising
Inward Investment and network building
Ensuring an exciting city centre
Delivering the city’s ground-breaking Cultural Strategy
Trading on Shambles Market since 2016, Zulia Finnigan is a local artist who creates beautiful and unique feather-based paintings. Combining her love of nature with her creative talent, Zulia has a wide range of intricately hand-painted feather designs for customers to choose from – depicting everything from birds and flowers to animals and insects.
During lockdown, Zulia continued to receive commissions and sell her artwork via her Instagram and Facebook pages and has now returned to trade at the r Shambles Market three days a week – Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Over the lockdown period, Zulia also developed a new passion for crochet and in her spare time has been crafting some stylish and vibrant handbags that customers can also now purchase from her stall at the market.
A long-time artist of landscapes and city views, Zulia has been painting on feathers for over 5 years and has a real passion for using this rare medium for her beautifully colourful designs. Initially starting out by selling her artwork at craft and art fairs, Zulia found the feedback from customers was so positive that she was keen to progress to taking a regular stall every week on Shambles Market.
Zulia explains: “I absolutely love creating my feather paintings and offering my customers something really unique and different. With my pieces I’ve been inspired by my passion for nature and I love to create intricate paintings of my favourite birds and animals. I often get feedback from people that they have never seen art pieces like this before and over the years I’ve had such positive reactions to my work which has been really lovely.
I have many customers who return again and again to buy my feathers and I am very proud that they have flown all around the world – reaching countries like Canada, Australia, USA, Indonesia and China. I also have a lot of York residents who buy my paintings, as well as tourists looking to pick up something a little different as a memento of their visit to our lovely city.
During lockdown I’ve been busy working on lots of new designs to restock my stall and have also found a new hobby in my crochet-work! The crocheting is something I really enjoy and it’s lovely to be able to share my passion for this with my customers too.
It’s been great to return to the market and getting back out to chat to my customers in person. Building relationships with my customers and the other traders is one of my favourite things about being on the market and I am so glad to be back. Please do come on down to my stall and have a chat with me about my artwork!”
See more of Zulia’s amazing designs by heading to Shambles Market on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays or follow her on Instagram or Facebook.
From Monday 12 April 2021 Shambles Market will reopen for all traders including sellers of non-essential goods and popular food and drink vendors at the Shambles Market Food Court. As part of the government’s second step in the coronavirus roadmap out of lockdown announced on 30 March, the open-air city centre markets can reopen to offer non-essential shopping.
Shambles Market, located in the heart of the city, has served as an essential local shopping spot to York residents for decades, with traders offering a wide range of products from fresh produce, fruit and veg, to handmade arts and crafts, clothing and various repair services. In the recently held digital #LoveYork Awards, organised by Make It York, Shambles Market was awarded Gold as the public’s ‘Favourite Independent Shopping Experience’ in the city, while the market’s Food Court received a Gold medal for the ‘Favourite Lockdown Foodie Experience’ – proving popular among York residents with a wide variety of dishes and cuisines on offer as well as its quality.
A new trader queue management standard will be implemented across Shambles Market, to ensure the safety of both visitors and market traders. The standard, put together by the health & safety team with input from the traders, adhered to the government’s regulations and will provide a guideline to each market trader on the best and safest way to manage queues around their stall and improve the customers flow through the market.
Ashley Young, Senior Marketing Manager at Make It York, said:
“Shambles Market is a hugely important part of York’s city centre and we are delighted that we are in a position to be able to work towards fully re-opening the space. With safety being our upmost priority, we have continued to implement appropriate measures to ensure it is a safe place for both our traders and visitors to the market. Shambles Market and Food Court are an integral part of York’s city centre identity and we are looking forward to be able to once again animate the space and bring all our amazing traders back.”
Kevin Tuohy, the Chair of York Market Traders Forum and owner of Bags of Style, said:
“The market traders are looking forward to getting back to their familiar routine. We have missed our colleagues and customers so much and it will be refreshing to get back to continue to trade safely and with the undoubted enjoyment this will bring.”
Shambles Market represents many of York’s and Yorkshire’s local independent businesses, who need the support of York residents post-lockdown. Meet some of the Shambles Market traders you can help support now:
Mannion’s Fruits and Vegetables
From as far back as 1906, the Mannion family have held stalls on York’s city centre – and in 1970, John Mannion took over the business from his father, offering a wide range of fresh, locally sourced fruit and vegetables. Now John and his wife Jean are on Shambles Market every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, providing customers with high quality goods and friendly customer service.
John Mannion, talking about the Shambles Market:
“We’ve seen a lot of change over the years but my favourite thing about trading on Shambles Market has always been getting to meet so many new people and chatting to our customers. The market also has a really unique blend of traders and an outstanding fresh produce selection. Whilst the pandemic has had a big impact and has been tough, we’ve continued to provide high quality produce for our customers throughout. I’d like to thank all of our loyal customers for their ongoing support and to continue to encourage local York people to come down to the market to do their shopping and see what there is on offer.”
Staves Art
Selling a unique range of hand drawn cityscape artworks, Staves Art was founded by artist Ben Staves in 2017. Ben designs unique maps of cities across the UK and beyond – including York, London, New York and Paris – portraying the famous streets and landmarks in an unusual 3D globe style. Pre-lockdown, Staves Art was trading on Shambles Market three days a week, now you can purchase some of Ben’s artworks from the Visit York e shop.
Ben Staves, talking about the Shambles Market:
“We started trading on Shambles Market towards the end of 2019 and found it a really wonderful way to promote our products and get out and meet people. The atmosphere on the market is fantastic and it’s a great community of traders on there – offering a mix of really cool products and street food and we love being part of it! We have really missed seeing our customers face to face and chatting to them out on the stall – we can’t wait to be back when it’s safe to reopen again!”
Black Yak is a unique Fair Trade importer, wholesaler and manufacturer, this year celebrating twenty-five years of being in business, and trading on Shambles Market. With a loyal customer base from all over the world, Black Yak sells a range of sustainable clothing and crafts that are handmade in Nepal – from woolly hats, jumpers and gloves through to beautiful summer clothing.
Rupert Harrison of Black Yak, talking about the Shambles Market:
“Over the last twenty-five years we’ve seen real changes in Shambles Market and it has been great to see how it has grown in recent years as a major tourist attraction in its own right. The quality and diversity of the traders on the market is fantastic, and I really enjoy being part of that and meeting such a diverse range of people on a daily basis. I’d like to say a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to our customers who continue to support Black Yak and in turn help the artisan workers in Nepal who make our products.”
Run by brothers Gary and Andrew since 1976, Wigginton Road Nurseries specialises in a wide range of high-quality cut flowers and plants. With a base on Shambles Market for many years, the Wigginton Road Nurseries stall located on Jubbergate has always offered a year-round selection of the very best seasonal flowers and plants. Hand-picked in Holland, the stall offers a fantastic range of fresh flowers, providing customers with some of the more unusual and unique options not available in supermarkets.
Gary, talking about the Shambles Market:
“We’ve been on Shambles Market for a long time and seen many changes and improvements in recent years. Being part of the Shambles Market community is great – seeing new traders coming in and developments like the introduction of the Food Court has been really positive and people seem to really love the shopping experience and supporting their local traders. A huge thank you to all our customers past and present for their outstanding support – it really is appreciated, and we look forward to returning to our stall and seeing everyone again!”
Set up in July 2020 by Luke Suff, Cycle Culture is a York-based business providing customers with high quality and reliable bicycle repair and servicing. With a stall on Shambles Market every Friday, Cycle Culture are also on hand to provide a wide range of bicycle parts and accessories, as well as offering basic bike servicing on the stall whilst customers wait.
Luke Suff, talking about the Shambles Market:
“We started trading on Shambles Market in October last year and we’ve been made to feel so welcome – both by the other traders and the Make It York team who’ve been on hand to provide any help and guidance we’ve needed. There has been a huge surge in cycling recently with people using it as a way to get out and about more and exercise – we’ve been excited to help people get back out cycling again and enjoy the outdoors. We are really looking forward to continuing to build our business through 2021 and working with customers old and new!”
Shambles Market and Food Court are open Monday-Sunday from 9am to 5pm (traders’ working days/hours may vary, please check their individual websites and social media channels for more info).
Make It York’s purpose is to develop and promote the city and its surroundings – nationally and internationally – as a vibrant and attractive place to live, visit, study, work and do business. The company’s remit covers leisure and business tourism, city centre management, festivals and events, business support and inward investment.
One of Make It York’s strategic aims is to promote York as a brilliant place to do business, helping to support business growth and innovation across a range of business sectors, such as financial & professional services, rail and high value manufacturing and to stimulate greater inward investment.
Trading on Shambles Market for over six years, Kevin Tuohy runs ‘Bags of Style’ – a business selling stylish handbags and purses, with a diverse variety of designs and colours on offer. Sourcing the very best quality products from trade fairs across the country, Kevin is passionate about providing customers with a wide range of choice and the opportunity to show off their own unique style.
During lockdown, Bags of Style has continued to operate as an online business with new products regularly added to www.bagsofstyleuk.com. When the market reopens later this month, Kevin plans to be back welcoming customers every Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday – with a wide variety of new products available.
Kevin Tuohyowner of Bags of Stylecomments: “I’m really looking forward to returning to the market and meeting up again with colleagues, friends and customers. Things will undoubtedly be different, however I can’t wait to get back into the swing of things and doing what I love most – trading.
“One of the biggest draws for me is that no two days are ever the same – I love meeting the other traders and forming bonds, and of course interacting with my lovely customers. We get lots of regulars who return time and time again – looking for gifts for loved ones or a treat for themselves. We are happy to get feedback from our customers and will always do our best to accommodate requests for different colours and order them specially in for collection the following week.”
In addition to running Bags of Style, Kevin is also a part of the York Market Traders Forum – taking on the role of Chair in 2017 and working alongside the other traders and Make It York to develop the market.
Kevin continues: “Before the pandemic hit the market was really flourishing and it’s fantastic to be a part of that. Over the years the market has really developed, with a hugely diverse range of traders and a real quality offering. From established traders, to brand new innovative businesses, the market offers a real varied mix for customers and we are very proud of this diversity.
Since 2017 I’ve been a part of the York Market Traders Forum and this has been a very enriching and rewarding experiencing – I’ve learnt a lot about how a market operates and have enjoyed working together with my fellow traders and the Make It York team.
What I think is really important to point out is that the Shambles Market traders are really like a sort of extended family to each other. Trading is a way of life and we all look out for one other – offering support through thick and thin, a real sense of camaraderie and a close social network. It’s lovely to be part of the community of traders on Shambles market who are all so passionate about what they do and I can’t wait for us all to be reunited when we are able to reopen again.”
From as far back as 1906, the Mannion family have held stalls on York’s city centre – and in 1970, John Mannion took over the business from his father, offering a wide range of fresh, locally sourced fruit and vegetables.
Now John and his wife Jean are on Shambles Market every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, providing customers with high quality goods and friendly customer service.
Throughout all the government lockdowns over the last twelve months they have remained open in all weathers and have worked hard to ensure local people could get their fresh produce each week. With their fresh deliveries coming in from Leeds market, John ensures he has a choice selection of the very best goods from all over Europe and beyond for his customers.
John Mannion comments:
“We’ve seen a lot of change over the years but my favourite thing about trading on Shambles Market has always been getting to meet so many new people and chatting to our customers. I’ve lived in York all my life so have lots of knowledge about the local area and love to chat to people and share info and expertise about the city.
The market has a really unique blend of traders and an outstanding fresh produce selection. With the likes of Cross of York offering fresh fish that is second to none, and the wonderful fresh meat and cheese counters – the market has such a fantastic offer for local people during lockdown.
Whilst the pandemic has had a big impact and has been tough, we’ve continued to provide high quality produce for our customers throughout. I love what I do – being out in all weathers, meeting new people and seeing our regular customers come back each week.
I’d like to thank all of our loyal customers for their ongoing support and to continue to encourage local York people to come down to the market to do their shopping and see what there is on offer.”
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