Rosie Winterton, CLG Minister, said she was delighted to be the government's market champion in welcoming the publication of Markets 21- A Policy Review of UK Retail and Wholesale Markets.

Addressing a packed meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Markets Group the Minister paid tribute to the work undrtaken by the markets organisations in producing Markets 21.  She went on to say that government and local authorities both had important roles to play in the future of markets and she was delighted that the Local Government Association would be participating in the new interdepartmental working group that was due to have its first meeting shortly.

Markets 21 has been produced by Krys Zasada, Nabma's Policy Manager, and Krys referred to the importance of evidence based research to assist in identifying the needs of the markets industry.  He paid tribute to the work of Julie Smith whose data, about the state of the markets industry, makes a significant contribution to the research. Krys emphasised the contribution made by markets to local communities but also emphasised the employent and revenue benefits.

Nabma members will already have received a copy of Markets 21 and further copies can be downloaded from the Retail Markets Alliance page of the website.