Market 'not attracting shoppers' after £12m refit

Traders at a market which underwent a £12m refit say they are still not getting enough customers - six months after it reopened.

New Italian-built stalls were installed at Northampton Market, alongside a water feature and new paving and seating.

Stallholders had to relocate to a car park on the edge of town for 20 months while the work was carried out.

One of them told the BBC that West Northamptonshire Council had not honoured its promise to "look after" the traders.

Traders said they were full of hope for the first few weeks after the 900-year-old market re-opened.

Dennis Vanko, the owner of a customised gifts stall, said: "The beginning was really good, for the first two or three weeks, people came to have a look at what's been done at the market."

He added that he really liked the refurbished market, but it was not yet bringing in new customers and needed "endless investment" to "make something special" so it stood out against other towns.

Speaking about the market's new water feature, he said "some people say it's useless, but it brings people, it looks nice, it's something refreshing".

Hung Vo, standing at his fruit stall, said the first six months had "not been that good".

"You look at the amounts of money they spent, there's nothing here," he said.

"When we first went up here, they [the council] said they would look after us, but they don't look after us at all."

He said he had been through tough times at the relocated market during the refurbishment process: "I had to sell my house to support the business. I know they say 'free rent', but it's no point in free rent if you ain't got any customers."

He said he had six people working for him at the old market - there were now two.

Les Brannan, who runs LJB Rutherford's key-cutting stall, said the first couple of months after the reopening were "absolutely fantastic".

Since then, trade was down on the figures for 2022, which was "disappointing", he said, adding: "It'll take time to get people to come back again, I think."

He described the redeveloped market as "lovely, but the onus is on the council to keep it lovely."

West Northamptonshire Council said it was unable to comment on issues relating to Northampton Market during the pre-election period.

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