Transformed market is 'best part of Nottingham' - so let's shout about it!'

IT'S HOME TO A GROWING COMMUNITY OF UNIQUE BUSINESSES - BUT SOME TRADERS BELIEVE THEY COULD DO WITH A MARKETING BOOST TO GET MORE PEOPLE TO DISCOVER SNEINTON'S AVENUES

- By GEORGE PALMER-SOADY

NOTTINGHAM'S Sneinton Market now looks very different to how it was ten years ago.

A square once filled with red and white-striped umbrellas covering carboard boxes full of fruit and vegetables has now become one of Nottingham's trendiest areas.

Meanwhile, units once home to discount furniture shops are now occupied by record shops and art galleries.

The area, which sits just on the border of the city centre, has recently seen a string of new businesses moving into the market and opening up, giving long-time traders a feeling it's “just getting bigger and bigger”.

But Dee Miller, who opened Minor Oak Coworking at the market in 2016, remembers when she was one of the only traders there.

“There were a few other tenants but we really are one of the ‘old-timers,’ she said.

“The markets really filled up and the focus has become all about the community - it’s always had a great community of businesses from the beginning. But the place has definitely improved”.

Occupying one of the units near the market's entrance off the busy Lower Parliament Street, Dee says that area was soured for years by the presence of derelict buildings that surrounded the avenues.

These were knocked down after major modernising works in the area and are now home to a block of student flats, IQ Nelson, with Tesco eyeing up the vacant space underneath the apartments.

Dee says this change is something that has attracted more people stumbling by into the area.

“We're just a bunch of ordinary people and each one of us was able to cobble together a business plan and enough resources to open up,” Dee continued.

“We work together to try and make Sneinton Market a better place - it's not just chains or things that have worked in another time and place but a unique vision”.