The Market Co run traditional markets throughout Cheshire and Manchester, giving visitors a classic market experience and a great day out.
We asked market organiser Denise more about The Market Co’s origins and the things you can discover at their many regular markets.
Click here to see details of all The Market Co markets and what’s coming up next.
Here’s our Q&A with Denise:
How long have you been running markets for?
We started the very first Artisan Market in July 2011 in my home town of Wilmslow – we were probably one of the very first events of this type in the UK. We came runner up in the Mary Portas ‘High Street Champions Awards’ the following year!
Town centres as we knew them have changed considerably over recent years, and our mission since 2011 has been to help revitalise these communities, to add a new dimension and inject a buzz and effervescence back into local communities.
Many towns across the country are suffering because so many of their residents are choosing to shop elsewhere, in chain stores, supermarkets, and largely online. These things are driving our town centres to extinction, but they are such important spaces for bringing communities together.
As a result, people demand so much more from a market – it has to offer a whole experience, alongside character and diversity, to represent each local area and keep people coming back. By delivering artisan markets across the region, we are fulfilling these demands and breathing life into these areas, whilst supporting many other local businesses and local makers.
What is your newest market?
Our most recently launched event is Stalybridge Artisan Market.
It’s special for a host of reasons, not least the fact that this is our very first regular indoor market, repurposing the original Victorian Market Hall right in the centre of town. The townsfolk have been keen to see this magnificent building utilised again and the support for this venture has been astounding.
We also run the spectacularly successful Stalybridge Street Fest, which contributed to the town receiving this year’s ’Town of Culture Award’!
What has been your favourite market so far?
All of our events are my favourite, but Urmston stands out due to the people who visit us and work with us.
The support from day one in Urmston has been incredible and continues to be so, no matter what the weather throws at us! It’s great to always see the community pulling together.
What makes the Market Co’s markets so great?
Our markets aim to keep things authentic and provide a traditional market experience with modern touches, giving market visitors a rare but enchanting opportunity to meet the many high-quality food and craft producers and suppliers they can find locally, whilst also offering local entertainment, showcasing local talented performers and giving local community groups a platform.
We want to boost town centre footfall for the benefit of local retail businesses AND to provide a low risk platform for the many super-talented artisan crafters and makers that reside in our communities. Our priority is to look after our artisans and make sure that we deliver the very best events for them and our visitors.
We endeavour to offer a wide variety of foods and crafts, with little if any duplication – this means both our stallholders and market visitors get the very best experience and choices and our traders have little, if any, internal competition.
Many of our ‘kitchen table-top makers’ have moved on to much bigger and more adventurous pursuits having gained their feet at our events.
What makes the Market Co’s markets so great is the ‘family’ that we have created – it is still the very best there is!
Want to find out more about The Market Co and get involved with their markets? Click here to visit their website.