VIP visit to celebrate support for local market

Published Friday 20 May 2022

There was a special visit to Harborough Market on Friday to promote and celebrate the Love Your Local Market campaign.

Harborough’s MP Neil O’Brien, the President of the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) Cllr Mick Barker, and Leader of Harborough District Council Cllr Phil King took the time to chat to traders and have a tour around Market Harborough’s popular indoor market.

‘Love Your Local Market’ is a three-week national campaign, running until Sunday 5 June 2022, which promotes the benefits of markets and trading opportunities across the UK and beyond.

VIP visit to Harborough Market

The special visit was part of a host of events and activities at Harborough Market building up to the Platinum Jubilee.

Neil O’Brien MP said: “The indoor market is such an important part of the town, and it was great to visit again. I heard from many constituents about how useful the market was during the pandemic, in particular, where it provided people another option to busy supermarkets. There’s such a wide range of stalls there, from the traditional butchers and fruit and veg, to collectables and really interesting pop-up stalls. Please do continue to support the indoor market as the small and independent businesses within there often don’t have large advertising budgets to promote themselves, so very much rely on word of mouth and personal recommendations.”

Cllr Phil King, Leader of Harborough District Council, said: “It was great to welcome Neil and Mick and show them around our popular local market which, at the time, was very busy with shoppers. It is important we support our local market; it’s the beating heart of the town centre, and offers such a variety for shoppers, as well as excellent eat-in food.”

Cllr Mick Barber, President of NABMA, said: “We launched the Love Your Local Market campaign nearly 10 years ago to springboard public interest in markets and it's gone beyond what we could’ve envisaged; and has now travelled to places like China, the USA, and South America. With some of the challenges of the high street, it brings to the fore the importance of markets.”

There will also be a host of activities to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee including a Jubilee-themed Farmers Market on The Square in Market Harborough on Thursday 2 June 2022, and visits to the market from local primary schools.

Find out more about Harborough Market at www.harborough.gov.uk/harboroughmarket

Pictured above:  David Wright of HDC, Cllr Phil King, Cllr Mick Barker, Sophie Smith, Neil O’Brien MP, and Gail Bates, market manager.

More photos of the visit can be seen below.

Jubilee stall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neil O'Brien MP chatting to market traders

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neil O'Brien buying fruit and veg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viewing crocheted union flag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MP chatting to traders at market