The new market at Salford Precinct, which was due to open in September, is now scheduled to open within the next few weeks. But it's left a trail of controversy in its path with three well established market traders refusing to move into the new place, instead shutting down completely.
The old indoor market is to close and the new 'market' is a unit within the Precinct broken down into around a dozen smaller units. While many of the traders in the old market can easily fit into the new space, for those with more equipment and health and safety needs it's a lot harder and more expensive.
Maureen Winder Jansen has run the traditional Jack's Cafe at the indoor market for almost nine years but won't be moving as she will not be getting like-for-like, she insists.
"The cafe is not just a business it's about personal service and communicating with the Salford community; people with disabilities and children" she says "It's mainly a cafe not a takeaway, so we have sit down meals but the management want it to be somewhere where you go, get food and sit in the middle of a unit. I wanted my own seating area with chairs so that I can still serve breakfasts and do one-to-one service but I wasn't getting that. Nor was I getting an extractor which is crucial to the business.
"They seem to be looking at students and to draw those type of people in but there doesn't appear to be anything for the elderly, disabled and people with young children" she adds "They don't seem to be concerned about the older generations."
It would have cost Maureen thousands of pounds to make the move and while the management offered some rent free months in compensation, she says there was no guarantee it would be enough. The trust, she says, had gone. And she's closing on 9th November.
It will be a sad day for Maureen, as her family has been involved with Salford market stalls for generations, as witnessed by numerous photos on the cafe walls.
Meanwhile, David Barratt has run Barratt's Butchers and Cooked Meats in the market for over forty years. He is also shutting down, with a very heavy heart...
"I think I'm being forced into retirement because what they've offered me to move is scratching the surface of what it will cost me, and at 65 years of age I ain't prepared to commit to that" he explains "But nothing is hurting me more than having to walk away because I've served these people for forty years and they've been my life. When I walk away from here I'm walking away with nothing, I've lost everything through one reason or another, my life savings gone.
"The way it's been handled is outrageous" he adds "It's just such a shame that it's been taken away from the Salford people because without a market it's nothing. When I came here I was serving mums with babes in their arms, and now I'm serving those babes who now have their own babes in their arms and it's all been taken away from them. It's not fair.
"At 65 I'm not prepared to make a financial commitment because if it doesn't work out I've lost the money that I've invested to move over" he insists "They're not giving us a chance to get on with our lives. For me it's been planned wrong and not been thought through. They won't even tell us what they are doing with the market when it's closed."
Sam, who has run Studio Nails for ten years, closed her business last week through the stress of trying to deal with the management. First she was offered a unit half the size of her current workplace with no extractor, and says she was then offered a larger unit on a six month contract with just seven days notice of termination. She had already bought new equipment for the move but couldn't go through with it and has lost everything.
"I love the people here, they make me feel strong and lovely; the customers are all beautiful" she says "I feel really unhappy about the way I've been treated. I pay my rent and bills on time, but when they offered me half a unit I was angry and upset as I'd already spent a lot of money on equipment that I found out wouldn't fit. I was so upset.
"I try to do my best for my clients and adore them as my friends" she adds "But I believe that I was treated unfairly. I don't think they're professional in what they do, and I've run a business in many places. I just don't trust them. I had a stroke last year and this was just too much stress. I think they've treated me really badly."
Sam's young clients, who are within the demographic the new market wishes to attract, are furious. Carla has been going to the Studio for five years..."It's the only place I'll come" she says "Sam's kind, generous, sweet and amazing at what she does. If she went to the new place I'd go there but it's not fair. It's a Salford sort of thing, the market..."
Her friend, Bethany, who has also been coming to the Studio for five years, underlines the sentiments... "It's awful because she's been here for ten years and she has to move near Christmas. There's nothing left. When you see old pictures of Salford market it brings back memories. It's so sad that they're changing everything."
These traders are Salford institutions and they have the support of senior councillor and former ceremonial mayor, Peter Connor, who feels they are being cast aside for some grand scheme that leaves the city's specifics out of the equation...
"I get upset when Salford people get affected and these traders are Salford people" he says "I feel that this is contempt for Salford people. I've known the market traders for quite a few decades, from the old markets, and I know the tremendous work that they've done to make not just the markets but that shopping centre a success.
"They were involved in saving the Precinct post office and getting the road closed to facilitate the bus routes to try and get people to walk through the shopping centre over to Tesco, plus other issues and campaigns" he explains "Everything they've done has been in the interests of the Salford community because they're the ones that matter.
"I think it's important that people are aware of what existing market traders are having to go through now to exist" he adds "They're shifting them from their present position to a shop unit, and these traders are going to have to kit out with their own money. Some of them are just about scraping a living; they're not millionaires are they?
"Myself and the National Market Traders Federation, which works with the local market traders, have had good relationships with previous managements, and now we've got new management in that doesn't appear to have the same communication skills that are necessary to keep things afloat on Salford Precinct successfully" he says "And that worries me because the community around there actually do depend on the shopping, and that includes off the market traders. Why it's changed I don't know..."
Nicholas Pitt, Regional Centre Manager of Salford Shopping Centre, which is owned by Praxis Holdings, tells the Salford Star: "I can assure you that every consideration has been made to accommodate the existing market traders in Salford, including financial support where a market trader has invested in new equipment.
"At no time were any promises made to either offer like-for-like space or a space at all" he adds "This was due to our need to evolve the present market offer at a time when we are seeing similar markets closing in other parts of the UK. The new market rates are competitive and, in some cases, cheaper than previously paid by some market traders. The market has always operated within a 30-day notice period under the terms of the license it trades within – offering flexibility for both parties.
"The landlord has invested heavily in the new market to provide a comfortable environment for customers to visit and spend time inside what promises to be a new era for Salford market" he insists "It was also considered an essential move to ensure its survival in the long-term – not just from ourselves, but our traders.
"Based off feedback we received from our local market traders, it was clear that we needed a lasting proposition" he says "I am only aware of two market traders who wrote to me asking not to be considered and one other who had previously asked to remain outside."
For a background on the new market see previous Salford Star article – click here
Also see The Final End For Salford Outdoor Market - click here
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