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Mission for Markets

5 possibly rapid — by 2020. Krys also called for a system of training for market managers — now in place as NABMA’s Diploma in Market Administration, hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University Business School. It is encouraging that a number of the problems identified by Krys are being addressed. So, whilst the ensuing report will focus on the six key topics that will move markets forward into a sustainable long-term future, Markets 21 had already identified some of the main issues. By page seven it had shown that remarkable turnarounds were possible even for markets in severe difficulty — the example given was Belfast. A key point to note is the (continuing) fact that some twothirds of markets remain under local authority control. Some do struggle and yet this report will later illustrate yet more case studies of dramatic turnarounds in fortunes at specific markets. NEW CHAMPION Often a new champion comes in: perhaps an outside third party — maybe an individual or a group such as a Social Enterprise. ‘What is required is the will to embrace change that will lead to a stronger future.’ In the post-war period, UK retail research has, in my view, become overly obsessed with studies of innovations in shop-based retailing. This despite the fact that markets such as Borough Market in London have been located on the same site for over 1,000 years. Also, many forget that for centuries some long-established markets have received the protection afforded by “Charter” status. Shopbased research also often ignores the fact that in food retailing alone over 60 familiar names — from Victor Value through Fine Fare to Kwik Save and, more recently Somerfield and Safeway, have closed or been taken over since World War Two. So, when we occasionally hear of some traditional markets being in decline, we can be sure they are not alone. Like shops, markets can only thrive if they remain at the heart of the community and are not pushed out to side streets. The shop-based research tends, instead, to focus almost exclusively on “successes” and their innovations — such as the superstore, pioneered by ASDA but used by Tesco to gain huge market share. At time of writing, however, we now learn that ‘Tesco…is finding that shoppers are actually not so keen as they once were to drive to, and shop in bulk at, its largest stores.’ MOTHBALLED Some “white elephant” stores are now mothballed even before they have opened. Nor are Tesco alone in their write-downs on the value of enormous superstore outlets from which shoppers have “moved on”. Why mention this? For two reasons. One is that markets have always been an enduring and viable alternative food supply chain. We absolutely must keep this vital supply chain viable into the future. The food aspect of markets needs an underpinning of wholesale markets — we thus need a national policy to treat them as a whole and not as individual locations that only matter locally. The second is that there is no single form of “best” market format: so discussing how markets changed in the past is not straightforward. Just think what a short time-frame it took to take the gloss off the dominant superstore format. Indeed, it is worth pursuing the superstore “problem” a little further. Essentially, vast, expensive investment has been put into “flagship” stores that “make a statement” about the financial capability of the developer. And then…it emerges that the shoppers have, as noted above, moved on. They are shopping in subtly different ways and in subtly different locations and their spending no longer supports the vast cost of the grandiose development.


Mission for Markets
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