Major revamp for Leeds’ historic market

Kirkgate Market, Leeds.Kirkgate Market, Leeds.
Kirkgate Market, Leeds.
Leeds Kirkgate Market stands on the brink of its biggest change in more than 100 years thanks to a £12m investment. Neil Hudson reports.

Leeds Market is about to change forever. Hopefully for the better. Its operators, Leeds City Council, will this year outline an ambitious £12m revamp, which will see a new entrance on George Street, moving Butchers’ Row and the demolition and re-build of the 1976 stalls.

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While it’s no secret Kirkgate Market has been struggling for some time, take a walk around the historic market and you’ll see why savvy shoppers spend their money here – there are bargains everywhere and any of the butchers will proudly tell you how their produce beats the supermarkets on price and quality any day of the week.

But there are plenty of empty stalls and traders in the outside market claim footfall is not what it used to be. Still, the market is fighting back. It now takes online orders and its Twitter account has 11,700 followers.

“When I first came here, there was no positive noise about the market, so we have set about trying to change that,” says Susan Burgess who has been in charge of the market for the last three years.

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“If we are going to be taken seriously as a retail presence in the centre of Leeds, we have to be accessible to our audience, whether that means targeting a younger, student audience or the middle class shopper.

“The Market Delivered website enables people to have produce delivered to their homes.

“There is also a ‘shop and drop’ facility in the form of a chiller room, which enables people to buy things and store them for collection later.

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“It’s not as well used as it could be – we’re trying to get traders to talk more about it.

“In terms of parking, the NCP car park has lowered its long-stay prices recently and when Milgarth Police Station is demolished as part of the Victoria Gate development and the arrival of John Lewis, there will be a new 805-space short stay car park created right on our doorstep.”

While the investment in the historic market has been a long time coming, Susan insists the ambitious plans will go ahead.

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“This will be the biggest change to the market since 1904 and we hope work will begin on January or February next year,” she says.

“We will be bringing the final plans before the council in April this year and assuming they are approved, we will then seek planning permission.”

Evidence that markets can secure a long term future is just a few miles down the M1. In Sheffield, the city market was recently moved from its historic home at Castle Market to a new £18m building called The Moor Market on Earl Street. In its first month it attracted over 400,000 people and the move has widely been regarded as a success.

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Crucial to the plans in Leeds will be the granting of a night licence which will allow the market to remain open into the evening.

“There will be no high street names in there, no chain cafes, we want to retain the ethos of the market, which is independent traders,” says Susan. “It’s a really interesting time for the market, it’s a real asset to the city and we want to make the most of it

“As the city moves forward, the market has to be up there to compete with other key retail destinations. I understand the frustrations of some traders but this investment should show the long-term commitment the council has to the market and I think some are now starting to believe something is finally going to happen.

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“You cannot tinker around the edges with a scheme like this, you have to be bold.”

They will also have to ensure that the new look market has a much higher profile. Butcher Michael Leary has suggested Leeds City Council might like to invest some of the £3.5m they made in stallholder rent last year in a 12-month marketing campaign.

“I’ve worked here 30 years, I started when I was 14 and the footfall we have today is not even 10 per cent of what we used to get. There are things which could be done to remedy that.

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“The council started a ‘shop and drop’ service, which enables people to buy meat and veg and store them for free in a giant fridge at the bottom of butchers row – the only problem is, no-one know about it. It’s a great idea but no-one uses it because they don’t know it’s there.

“I’d like to see a lot more promotion of the market to different areas of Leeds targeted every week in a bid to sell what we’ve got. The one thing which sets us apart from anyone else is value and quality – we can beat the supermarkets every time on value and we can beat them on quality.”