Page 27 - MarketTimesApril2015
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buying their artisan bread and top quality meat and fish. On one of the first days I was amazed to see a queue of builders in high-vis jackets queuing up for their Vietnamese breakfasts.”
“It is a really great mix and the traders are happy,” said market manager Steve Barrett. There is a top quality butcher, a fishmonger, a florist and several hot food businesses in the kiosks.
The pop-up stalls include sweets, shabby chic and hand-crafted items.
As predicted, the footfall is excellent. Sixty seven thousand people walk through the market in an average week and the traders are relieved and happy that their investment is paying off.
Wayne Burridge, who manages Bevan’s Butchers, said the business had got off to a perfect start. Established in 1929, it is run by Robin Bevan, the fourth generation, and is based in Kingston-upon- Thames.
Quarterbridge agreed to them moving in after the opening because
they deemed it the best quality butchers around. “We sell the highest quality meat and we know the farms the cattle are from,” Wayne said.
Like the fishmonger, they know everything about what they sell and are happy to pass on their knowledge to customers.
Another popular stall is BreadStall, again selected from a number of applications for the quality of its offering — artisan bread, sandwiches, hot slices of freshly made pizza and quiches and sausage rolls named the best you can buy in London.
Adam O’Neill, who trained at Gordon Ramsay’s and is now running the Woking business, explained that it is based in Clapham and was started by Sebastian Vine.
“We are really busy here,” said Adam. “Market Walk has taken off as we expected. It is the right place at the right time. Woking has become a really good place to live and work and it’s great to be young
and in Woking at this time.” Taylor’s Coffee House, managed
by Gina Letukaite and owned by Adam Taylor, has had a similar experience. Adam spent thousands on a high-end finish for his kiosk including slate tiles and copper - and the investment has paid off.
And non-food businesses are also making their mark on Woking’s Market Lane. Nicky Appleby decided to apply to run a haberdashery business on the market without any market experience but a love of knitting and sewing.
She was surprised and delighted to be accepted and her fledgling business is doing well.
And Kevin Parker, who sells shabby chic signs from a pop-up stall, said he is finally making good money from market trading at Woking.
Kevin used to work in airport security management, but his heart is in running a business for himself.
“I used to trade at Bramley, but I happened to be on Cranleigh
Market when Steve Barrett visited to chat to traders about the opportunities at Woking.”
He took the bait and has no regrets.
It’s still early days for Woking’s Market Walk and its traders, but all the right pieces of the jigsaw are in place.
Coun John Kingsbury, Leader of Woking Borough Council, said: “Thanks to our continued investment in Woking Town Centre, we have breathed life into a sparse, drab and unoccupied part of the town, transforming it into a bustling, vibrant hub for small traders offering a range of high quality food and produce that will benefit both traders, visitors and above all, Woking.”
Most people agree with the council that this bright, ultra- modern market has a perfect mix of everything that markets can offer that other retailers don’t do so well. So if you are looking to the future of the markets industry, you should take a stroll down Woking’s Market Walk.
   Adam O’Neill runs BreadStall, one of the busiest kiosks on Market Walk, selling artisan bread, sandwiches, hot pizza and quiche slices, and award-winning sausage rolls
Kevin Parker left a high-powered job in airport security management to become his own boss on the markets. He sells shabby chic signs and caps from a pop-up stall in Market Walk
Wayne Burridge manages Bevan’s Butchers on Market Walk, a family business established in 1929 that specialises in the highest quality meat at value-for-money prices
 FACTS & FIGURES
 l Market Days: Seven days a week
l Market Rent: Weekly rent for a fitted kiosk starts at around £165 excluding VAT but including storage and service charge. Rent for a pop up stall is around £40 a day plus VAT but seasonal and multi-booking discounts are available
l Woking’s Claim to Fame: Woking in the west of Surrey is in the London commuter belt and its station is one of the busiest. It is home to the McClaren Group which fields a Formula One team, as well as IT and engineering services businesses. H G Wells wrote his science fiction novel The War of the Worlds whilst living in Woking and the town centre boasts three artworks based on the novel — a 23 foot high Martian tripod fighting machine, bacteria and the cylinder that brought the Martians to earth.
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