Page 13 - Market Times October 2024

FEATURE • SCARBOROUGH MARKET HALL 13
Scarborough Market Hall has flourished since it was transformed in a £2.8 million revamp that turned it from a tired and dated retail space to a bright and welcoming shopping environment. Nicola Gould sees how small improvements can make a big difference
It may not be Scarborough’s foremost attraction, but the Victorian Market Hall is a source of pride for the traders, shoppers and locals. And tourists who discover it tucked away in St Helen’s Square off the main tourist track are so impressed they often tell traders they wished they had a market like Scarborough in their hometown.
Opened in 1839, when the UK’s first-ever seaside resort was already a magnet for tourists, the Grade ll listed hall was once the largest single-span building in the country.
It has been a thriving concern down the years, but a decade ago the market had fallen on hard times. Penny Beniston, Scarborough and Whitby market superintendent for North Yorkshire Council, said: “When I first visited the market there were a lot of elderly shoppers and it was not very welcoming,” she said.
“I remember going in one door and then out the other. It was very dark and there was nothing that sparked any interest.”
But a £2.8 million refurbishment completed seven years ago completely changed the vibe, creating a bright, 21st century
market hall with new stalls and a new mezzanine floor.
On the ground floor, the large stalls in the central area were knocked down and replaced with low level stalls which create a more open space and there is a large seating area served by an impressive, deli, café and bar.
All the anchor food businesses do well here including the butchers that has been in the market for more than a century, a fish stall and an impressive fruit and veg offer.
The new mezzanine floor on three sides of the hall is accessible by lift and stairs, with arty crafty businesses housed in small units along two sides and a comfortable cafe and seating area complete with sofas to encourage dwell time. The windows that were previously blocked by wooden units now offer a vista across Scarborough to the castle.
And the basement, once a bonded warehouse, has been converted into a warren of units, known as the Vaults, home to crafty, vintage and quirky businesses.
Penny says the main market is full, with a total of 45 traders, although there are a couple of spaces in the Vaults if anyone is
Penny Beniston is North Yorkshire Council's Scarborough and Whitby market superintendent
tempted.
“The core traders have been here
a long time, but we have comings and goings, with some traders outgrowing their units and moving into shops, and others changing direction,” she said.
Penny took over the management of the market hall shortly after the refurbishment was completed. She was perfectly qualified, having started her working life serving on the fruit and veg stalls in Idlewells Market
in Nottinghamshire run by the late Hampton Flint, a former NMTF President and a legendary figure in market trading.
“I have been at Nottingham fruit market at four in the morning and I do understand market traders and the challenges they have,” she said.
Spells in hotel management, then stately homes, taught her that people are looking for more from then just a simple shopping experience when they visit a
t