Page 6 - MarketTimesOctober2014
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milking them to the bone.
At Keighley, this has been translated into a
phased £2.5 million programme of works including essential maintenance repairs and enhancements to the building.
Improvements carried out since 2004 include a new roof, entrances, a new floor, new stalls, lighting, heating and ventilation, a new electrical supply, the installation of a ramp leading from the rear entrance to Morrison’s and a major extension to the front entrance to the market.
Diana Greenwood said: “Of all our markets, this is the most consistent, with the least turnover of traders.”
She said the mix and quality of the offering was spot on, and the market was well integrated into the town’s retail set up.
There is a correlation between the footfall in the shops and in the market, she says, which suggests that people who shop in the Airedale Centre or the supermarket, tend to also visit the market, and vice versa.
Well thought-out investment strategies tend to create an enterprising environment, and Keighley market is brimming with examples of traders who are expanding and investing in their businesses.
At the top of the list is Adam Halliday, who began selling flowers on the market six years ago, and now has two thriving cafes. He has just taken over an additional unit that he is turning into a seating area.
Adam said: “I had a well paid job as a flowers wholesaler in Leeds, but I was made redundant and realised the only way I was going to earn as much was by being my own boss.”
He started selling flowers, switched to fruit and veg, then back to flowers, and eventually decided that cafes were the best businesses on markets.
He runs The Market Pantry, and admits he had no training and didn’t know what he was doing on Day One.
But the cafe is now a market favourite. And his second cafe, which was on its last legs when
Adam took it over, is proving equally successful.
“I now employ 14 people and I am investing and expanding,” Adam said. “People come into the market to eat at my cafes, and it is up to other traders to take advantage of the new people coming into the market. They need to make sure that they buy from them.”
Scott Broadbent, who runs The Card Stall, selling cards, gifts, wrapping paper and balloons, has also invested a significant amount in his stall.
“I have been trading here for 25 years,” he
    Roy Dykes has been on Keighley market for 40 years, firstly working for a butcher, then for the past 18 years, running his own multi-award winning butchers
    Scott Broadbent who has run The Card Shop in Keighley Market for the past 25 years has invested in kitting out his stall to the highest standard
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