A £17.5 million market building is currently under construction in the centre of Sheffield, which will be the home to a new indoor market in November 2013.
Sheffield City Council opened the door to applications earlier this year, but it seemed that supply was outweighing demand for a while. The first lot of applications were only open to market traders who occupy stalls in Castle Market, which is due to close and be demolished soon. Four weeks ago, only 29 of the 100 market traders had applied to trade in the new market building on the Moor.
Castle Market may be redeveloped for business use
The building can hold 195 market stalls, and in the last four weeks, the council have seen a surge in applications from both existing traders of Castle Market and those new to the area. Around 215 people have now applied for a place in the state of art market building – with some of those requesting numerous places.
Speaking of the surge in applications, Ian Bingham, Vice Chairman of the Traders’ Federation for Castle Market, said: “I think more than half of the people who have applied are from Castle Market.
“There are no complaints about the process and we hope the new building will be full of traders on day one.”
The council have the job of sifting through the applications to decide which traders will be able to conduct their business in the market building. John Mothersole, Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council said the old Castle Market will be demolished and excavated to see if the castle ruins (which is where its name original comes from) could become a tourist attraction. If nothing is found, the area may be redeveloped for business use.
“There are exciting archaeological discoveries which could become a tourist attraction. Otherwise, the site could be used for businesses,” John added.
Do you think existing traders at Castle Market should get priority for a place in the new market building? Or do you think new traders will bring a fresh feel to the market?
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