Page 35 - Market Times April 2024

FEATURE • RAWTENSTALL 35
Rawtenstall Market in Lancashire has been transformed from a down- at-heel gaff to a bright, thriving market with a waiting list of traders wanting a piece of the action. Now a £4.5 million investment is set to open up a new chapter in the market’s history. Nicola Gould reports
Opened in 1906, Rawtenstall Market in central Lancashire has enjoyed boom and endured bad times. But it seemed that the end might be nigh a few years ago when the market was tired and run-down with a dwindling number of traders and customers.
Out of the blue a remarkable woman called Jane Boys arrived on the scene and proceeded to halt the decline and bring new life and hope back to Rawtenstall market.
A retired NHS worker, Jane had launched an artisan market venture called The Clog Market which did well, but she was per- plexed to see the state of her local market, Rawtenstall, which was dying on its feet.
Jane negotiated a deal with Rawtenstall Borough Council whereby she worked for free for 12 months, investing her own cash in the market, which at the time was only 50 per cent let and was losing £13,000 a year.
In return, she would get all her money back and 90 per cent of any profits, but she would not stay longer than a year.
The project turned out to be a recycling and regeneration triumph. Apart from professional painters who tackled the outside wooden cabins, and plumbers and electricians, Jane and a self-employed handywoman trading as Mrs Toolbox transformed the market to a bright, welcoming space, bringing new traders and customers on board.
After Jane left, a new operator, Play Market Management, stepped into the breach, and a youthful duo comprising Dan Gregson and Stephen Malcolm, have taken the market to the next level.
Lindsay Rawson, who used to have an interiors stall on the market before taking over as manager, describes the innova- tions.
“Play Market are now in their third year of running the market and the changes have been dramatic, to the point where we are completely full, with a waiting list for the outdoor and the indoor market. That waiting list includes The Curated Market, an innovation that involves 16 local artisan makers displaying their wares that the team sell for them for a small commission,” she said.
The Curated Market, created from pallets, is bringing new people into the market as it showcases so many different locally made arts and crafts, from hand- made embroidered cards to ceramics.
“The management view is that what we may lose in rent, we gain in customer
Jane Boys
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