Traders banking on brighter days in new market

Independent traders in Bradford say they hope the city's long-delayed new market can transform their ailing fortunes after what they see as years of decline.

Intended to be a key part of Bradford city centre's regeneration, Darley Street Market was originally scheduled to open in June 2023 but remains a work in progress.

The council has insisted it will open in 2025 - Bradford's City of Culture year - replacing the outdated Oastler and Kirkgate markets with a more modern offering.

Traders have now begun their final preparations, and say the move can't come soon enough.

Both the Oastler and Kirkgate markets appear to be in a state of decline when the BBC visits shortly after opening on a chilly Tuesday morning.

Kirkgate, located within the shopping centre of the same name, is largely deserted. More than half of traders are estimated to have vacated their stalls and those left easily outnumber the number of customers browsing.

"Sometimes there's not enough money to pay staff," admits Osman Ince, who sells leather goods including wallets, handbags and suitcases.

Osman, who is originally from Turkey, has traded in the market since 2018.

Large red signs advertising a clearance sale are dotted around his stall, but there are very few passers-by to see them.

Around us, the hustle and bustle you might expect to fill the space has been replaced by a dated music playlist.

"It's dead here," he admits.

Opened in 1976, Kirkgate Shopping Centre was once Bradford's main shopping hub and remains a popular example of Brutalist architecture.

The local authority plans to tear it down, along with the nearby Oastler Shopping Centre, to make way for the City Village development, with many traders heading to the new, purpose-built Darley Street Market.

A council spokesperson says City Village would be "a transformational regeneration programme, which alongside delivering 1,000 new homes, will also create independent retail and leisure opportunities, business spaces, and high-quality public realm".

On the other side of the market hall, Abdul Ghafoor's mobile phone stall is just as quiet, although he is "optimistic" about the future at Darley Street.

"Everything's going to be open from nine to five, all the shops are occupied," he says.

"Since The Broadway opened, it's affected us with the bigger shops moving."

Mr Ghafoor's business has been run by his family for 21 years. He recalls them paying "close to six figures" for the plot "back in the day", but says they have been given rent discounts in recent years to help with the drop-off in footfall.

"We are talking about probably 80% less footfall," he says.

Jim Fewtrell, who runs a neighbouring stall selling perfume, says the market has "died" because people "generally assume it's shut".

"Businesses here have gone out of business because of the delay and the footfall going.

"The council are trying, but it hasn't been good for my business. I'm sympathetic but frustrated."

Mr Fewtrell, who has been trading in Kirkgate Market since 1998, says he currently breaks even, "if that", and admits his business is "hanging in" until Darley Street opens.

He admits he considered mothballing it until that point, with an new opening date still unknown.

"What it won't stand is delaying for another year, everyone will have gone by then.

"Our biggest fear is yet more delay. It's supposed to be City of Culture but half the shops aren't even open," adds the 59-year-old.

"We are going to see how it goes in Darley Street. Hopefully it will see us through to retirement."

While Darley Street offers hope for some, not every trader has been so lucky.

Kasiano Wonzer, a tailor originally from South Sudan, is on the waiting list for a stall there and unsure what the future holds.

"My life depends on this," he says from behind his sewing machine.

"I don't have any place to go. I don't want to depend on benefits, I have to work."

The council spokesperson says they will "continue to support the small number of remaining tenants to either find new premises or be compensated if appropriate".

Meanwhile, over in the nearby Oastler Shopping Centre, footfall appears to be a struggle.

The only sound in the entrance foyer is a jingle coming from a claw machine, with shutters down on many of the units on the dimly lit shop floor.

"It's taken way to long for us to actually get into this market," says one trader, who described the ongoing delays as "a nightmare".

"Everything has been regenerated towards the bottom end of town. We have had changes to public transport routes, numerous roadworks, which has all caused a detrimental effect to the small business at the top end of town.

"It's been very stressful for us having to try and stay afloat when you have got hardly any footfall. Markets thrive on footfall.

"There seems to be a silver lining. We seem to be at the final hurdle now."

A council spokesperson says they are "working hard with contractors and traders on the final stage of fit-out".

They did not provide a date for reopening, but add that they "hope to be in a position to make an announcement about the opening shortly".

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