Why does Oswestry Indoor Market deserve to be nominated for Best Indoor Market Hall?

Oswestry markets are 800 years in the making but they still hold a prominent force in Oswestry and continue to be an important part of the town’s heritage.  There have been mixed fortunes and trading is not easy in these current times but recent efforts have made the Indoor Market vibrant once again and has been fortunate to enjoy a 100 % attendance throughout 2011.

The variety of the market is also impressive.  We boast a local artist gallery, a firm specialising in home brew and even a specialist in dart supplies not to mention the usual suspects you would expect in any market.  We have a newly revamped coffee bar where customers can enjoy the noises and laughter of the market and experienced quality meat and fish producers.

 

We even have a nail bar!

 

Following the success of the Times newspaper competition where Oswestry Market won a design makeover by the nationally renowned design team at Mydeco led by Sir Terrance Conran, Oswestry Town Council have invested heavily to secure its future and a consequence there have been a number of essential improvements to the hall to enable it to compete with the high street.  These include the introduction of a lift, newly refurbished toilets, a brand new modern colour scheme, new standardised signage, improved lighting and the installation of WI FI for both customers and trader usage.

 

Overall standards throughout the building have improved dramatically and in turn the levels of communication, the customer experience and retail presentation have also been raised by the traders themselves.  Some exciting new traders have started this year bringing real imagination and energy to the market.  To top the year off one of our indoor traders even won the coveted Best Dressed Town Window award organised by the Chamber of Commerce!

We now have an exciting market events portfolio which helps bring our community together and introduce new users to the market.  We hold annual charity and craft markets and at Easter we have family fun days with many free activities for the children to enjoy.  The indoor market even had its very own Santa’s Grotto that managed to raise over £300 for local charities.

We have introduced a brand new recycling system this year which has made the market much more environmentally efficient whilst saving costs and we are currently looking into a solar panel system that, once installed, will be a bench mark for many Council run buildings in the locality.  The introduction of energy saving lights has also aided to reduce the markets carbon footprint and we shall continue to look at ways to make all our markets as environmentally friendly as possible.

2012 will prove to be an exciting time for Oswestry Indoor Market and with the continued support of the Council and the public it is hoped there will be sustainability for all our markets for a further 800 years.