The British public have been voting for their favourite market in the Great British Market Awards & now the top 6 finalists can be revealed. These are Barrow in Furness, Cambridge, Leeds Kirkgate, Norwich, Shrewsbury and Skipton.
The Great British Market Awards are run by the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) and sponsored by KPR Midlink. The awards include a category to find out which is Britain’s Favourite Market and, as a first step, asked the public to vote online for their favourite market. The competition opened at the beginning of October & voting by the public closed at midnight on the 30th November. The top 6 now go through to the next stage to find out which is Britain’s favourite.
The finalists will receive a visit by two members of the Judging panel before Christmas to see for themselves why the market is loved by their customers and supporters.
During their visit, the Judges will be looking at how the market work with local partners; provide opportunities for new traders and developing businesses; involve young people; drive footfall and encourage dwell time, as well as marketing themselves. Fundamentally the judges are keen to find out why the market is everyone’s favourite locally and why it deserves the title of Britain’s Favourite Market.
Secondly, each market will also receive a visit by Storecheckers, the mystery shopping organisation over the coming weeks.
Hilary Paxman, CEO of NABMA & one of the judges said of the awards;
“Britain’s Favourite Market is a tough competition to win as it relies on the support of a public vote to get in to the final stage. I am delighted for all of the top 6 markets who have made it into the final part of the competition and I and my fellow judges look forward to visiting them before Christmas to find out for ourselves why they should be deemed as Britain’s Favourite Market 2018”. The winner will be announced at the NABMA One Day Conference in Birmingham on 25th January 2018”.