How Gen Z is saving the UK's street markets

BBC News

11 hours ago

"At the first market I was really nervous," says 20-year-old Jayden Roberts. "I was thinking: 'What if I don't have the right demographic? What if my stuff's too niche?'"From his stall at Oxford's bustling Gloucester Green market, Jayden sells prints, t-shirts and mugs featuring his own artwork. Jayden and 18-year-old Lenny Kibble, who sells jewellery and trinkets two stalls down, are part of a new generation of market traders embracing entrepreneurship and all its uncertainties. The National Market Traders Federation (NMTF) says membership among 16-30 year olds has risen by 40% in the past three years.
Lenny began working at the market after realising college was not something that suited him. "I'm not much of an academic person," he says. "So I made my way down here and started by putting the canopies up."After helping other stalls, he now runs his own selling bric-a-brac and treasures he finds while bargain-hunting. "I love it... I've learned how to fix watches and about hallmarks, pottery and paintings. It's given me a lot of confidence," he says.
'Frightening statistic'
A little over a decade ago, the average age of a market trader in the UK was 55. It was then the industry realised it had a problem. "It was a frightening statistic," says Joe Harrison, chief executive of the NMTF. "Alarm bells started to ring. "With the introduction of online shopping, markets took quite a big hit. There were more places to go, and [fewer] people coming into town."In 2013, the NMTF launched the Young Traders Market, an annual competition to find the best young traders from across the country. A series of regional finals take place throughout the year, followed by a national final in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire.
Mr Harrison says the competition has been a huge success, with many participants going onto become established traders. "Some are doing 200-300 events a year, from artisan events to regular market trade events. It's wonderful to see," he says.Ryan Patrick McGillicuddy, whose father Dermot is director of LSD Promotions, which runs Gloucester Green market, started his own catering company, Feast Streat, from a stall. Before that, he spent his teenage years helping his grandfather sell fruits and vegetables on a stall. "It was fundamental to our success," Ryan says. "We needed a platform to start that wasn't expensive or would put us into debt. "It was perfect for that. It gave us a decent amount of cashflow to be able to expand and grow."
Nearby, 16-year-old Yi Yi Sun is following Ryan's example, working with her mother selling handmade jewellery. Like Lenny, she too has gained newfound confidence from working at the market. She says at first, her mother would have to do all the talking."I would just stutter a lot and stand at the back," she says. "[Now], if anyone walks past I say 'Hi, this is handmade, you could try this'... and I'll introduce items to them." For Jayden, those initial doubts he felt when starting out have also begun to fade. "It was nerve-wracking," he says. "But to be here and see that positive feedback just made that all of that go away."
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