Page 5 - Market Times February 2022
P. 5

FEATURE • BILLINGHAM 5
Billingham Market has bounced back from the brink. And a bid for £20 million of Government Levelling Up funding could be just the tonic the town and its market need. Nicola Gould reports
  The industrial town of Billingham on the north bank of the River Tees is a little overshadowed by its larger neighbours, Stockton-on-Tees and Mid- dlesbrough.
Its market, too, has missed out on the limelight attracted by Stockton Market, which has been crowned “The Queen of the North”.
But Billingham has pulled itself up by the bootstraps after the the chemicals giant ICI pulled out of the town in the 1990s.
Other chemical, biotechnology and engineering companies stepped into the breach, and these days employment is up and there is a buzz about Billingham and its market.
Richard Beddard, who manages three markets for Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, said Billingham market had dwindled to about six traders when he took over its running in 2012.
He explained that the town grew around the chemicals industry which took root in Billingham shortly after the First World War.
It grew rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s and Billingham is very much a town of that era, although Old Billingham boasts a village green and the town is famous for its international folklore festival held every August, with music and dance reminiscent of times gone by.
No one is quite sure exactly when the market was launched. But all agree it was a large, busy and popular market held in Market Square and spilling down Central South Parade, bringing crowds into town every Monday and Friday, in the days before supermarkets and the internet.
By 2010, the town centre and its market were tired and faded, so Stockton Council made the decision to sell it off to St Modwen’s, a major development company that invested a significant amount in pedestrianisation and improvements in the town centre.
The market moved temporarily to the area around the Forum Leisure Centre while the work was carried out.
Richard said: “The investment improved the town centre. Market Square now has
flower plantings and trees, and we grad- ually got the market up to full capacity with 15 to 16 traders taking 30 units.”
Before the pandemic struck the market grew to around 107 per cent capacity, with stalls once again running along Central South Parade.
It helps that there is plenty of free park- ing in the town centre, and Richard offers strong incentives for new traders. They are allowed at least four weeks of free trading and more if Richard and his deputy Jon Wilmot feel the business could do well on the market.
“You have to be a bit forward-looking. The market isn’t big enough to have too many overlapping businesses, but there is always room for niche businesses which offer something a bit different,” he added.
The real key to the market’s success, according to the traders and the market’s team, is the local population.
There is plenty of employment and the locals are hard-working, down -to-earth folk who like the friendly experience and camaraderie of market shopping. And
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