Councillors Vote in Favour of Wrexham Council Retaining Ownership of Indoor Markets

Wrexham’s indoor markets are a ‘key hub’ in the town and should be kept under the ownership of the Council.

That was the message sent out by the Employment, Business and Investment Scrutiny Committee, who met earlier this week to discuss the future options for the General and Butchers Markets, the nine shops belonging to the Council on Henblas Street and Chester Street and the outdoor market.

Last week Wrexham.com reported that three options had been put forward in relation to the future of the two markets, which were: Investment and direct management, Outsource Management or Transfer of ownership to the private sector.

Following conversations with traders from the two markets, the preferred option came back as option one – which would retain the ownership and management of Wrexham Council.

Traders in the People’s Market were not consulted about the options, with the market set to move under the guise of a new trust when the Arts and Cultural Hub development is complete.

Speaking about the report, Lead Member for Economy – Economic Development and Regeneration Cllr Neil Rogers said: “I’m here to present to members the options for the two remaining markets, the shops and the outdoor market. The report considers all aspects of the interim management and the consultation taking place and the options presented to the market traders.

“There have been many reports over the years on the markets and we need to be more resilient as the changes come to us. There have been maintenance issues, have been problems and hoping to address them by working closely with people there.

“The preference from traders is Option One, they recognise the Council is a good landlord. There are financial implications, the options are before members. Asking you to consider the contents of the report and make a recommendation for the Executive Board.”

A series of questions were then posed by Chairman of the meeting, Cllr Bill Baldwin, who had received questions from several market traders prior to the meeting.

Many of the questions focused around gaining clarity about the Arts and Cultural Hub development and where the move would leave the existing traders.

The questions were from anonymous traders, with Cllr Baldwin first asking: “Clarification is required on the exact number of stalls that will be available in the People’s Market following the refurbishment. The space dimensions of each stalls are also required as this has impact on the stall holders.”

Contact Officer, Rebeccah Lowry said: “There will be 20 stalls in the market space of the People’s Market. There will be ten in the perimeter which is 320sqm. I don’t have the dimensions for each stall as they will vary depending on the constraints of perimeter. There will be a further 240sqm which will be divided equally into ten island stalls.

“With regards the discussions we have met with traders, but how that plays out as with who is where and the size is down to the next stages. We are embarking now on technical detailed design and there will be negotiations with architect. Then we are down to the detailed specifications.”

Clarification was also sought on the type of stalls that will be allowed to trade within the new Arts and Cultural Hub, with Cllr Baldwin asking: “It has been indicated that only arts related stalls will be in the new market / Arts and Cultural Hub. If any existing stalls are deemed not to be suitable, can these traders be informed immediately about their suitability. ”

Cllr Rogers pointed out that this was not the case and that the expectation is that the existing traders will continue to trade in the market space when the development is complete.

A third question from the traders centred around the final layout of the Arts and Cultural Hub, with Cllr Baldwin stating: “Can traders be consulted on the layout? To date the only consultation has been on the hub – not on layout or requirements.”

Ms Lowry said: “Once the architect has been appointed we will embark upon more detailed communications.”

Cllr Rogers added: “Councillor Hugh Jones has made it clear he will be continuing dialogue for the proposals.”

Questions regarding compensation for traders who wish to leave the market during the reconstruction were also raised, however Cllr Rogers noted that he was not prepared to discuss compensation during the meeting.

One of the main issues for traders in the People’s Market has been the future management of the facility, which is set to be managed by an ‘Arts Trust’ when work on the hub has been completed.

The final question put forward stated: “The People’s Market has been informed that post-construction they will be managed by Arts Trust. Can we request all markets remain under same management as there are concerns they will miss out. The current management understand market issues and traders feel the Trust may have bias to the arts over the market.”

Speaking about the management, Barry Williams from Beauty Box in the People’s Market added: “The biggest concern is about management when the Trust take over. I makes sense to traders we keep existing management and work with other two. It means we are one big team, the traders feel for them it would be better.

“As long as have consultation right way through the building works, I am sure we can get through it together. We don’t want to be pushed in the dark.”

Ms Lowry said: “The business model approved has a separate Trust for the market within the hub. Any changes to that will be subject to a referral back to the Executive Board, which we are not expecting to happen.

“Going forward as separate management, we do not want to create opposition. It is about a Team Wrexham approach. We wouldn’t allow that situation as it has to be a good relationship between the Trust and ourselves.

“With regards to bias the Trust going forward is a cultural one. They will have a range of services, from car parks, library, arts, heritage and museums. It is important the board have that wide range of expertise and that should include someone from a market background.”

The debate then opened to the committee – who questioned the options put forward in the report and what they would mean for the remaining two indoor markets.

Cllr Alun Jenkins kicked off the debate, stating: “I understand how the conversation has gone so far. When making changes there will be disruption, the question is how to manage it.  I am sure where there is a will. there is a way and I am sure we can see this through. Being afraid of change isn’t a reason not to do anything. The markets need to be enhanced if they are to have a future in Wrexham.

“We have been talking about markets for a long time. We’ve set up a Task and Finish Group, there was the Quarter Bridge who we employed to commission a report. They are valuable documents that we can look back on. One comment they made was that Wrexham has two nice markets that have a future, but questioned the third and stated that Wrexham had to find a purpose for that.

“My concerns are about other two markets. They are two beautiful buildings and are our heritage, our predecessors had the foresight to provide that for the town. I think they are easily maintainable and no doubt those two markets have a future. They need to be enhanced and they need a future, to achieve that think the markets need to be kept within our control.”

Cllr Jenkins added: “Keeping them within our control puts them in a stronger position to find additional funding. We can deliver in Wrexham – if we continue to push from one source or another, we need to find the funding that will allow us to enhance the buildings.”

Questioning the second option put forward in the report, Cllr Phil Wynn described the markets as being a ‘hot potato over the years’, adding: “I assumed Option Two should have headed up investment and outsourcing – as I would hope outsourced management would bring investment with them.

“Just because we are outsourcing management doesn’t mean there won’t be investment. I would think they would bring investment with them.:

However Rachel Prince, representing the General Market said: “A lot of traders want Option One as we have faith in the Council. We have been successful and you have made a profit, we’ve had a bad patch but we can be a success again.

“With outsourcing management, Quarter Bridge wanted to put a loan on the Butchers Market. The worry about outsourcing is them bringing in their own traders, that is the worry around the two markets.

“The views from the Butchers Market and General Market is we want clarity that we are going to move forward. We have been stagnant with the Arts and Cultural Hub and feel neglected over the last few years. We want to move forward and make the other two markets a success as well.”

Cllr Rogers noted that the Council have given a commitment and are working closely with traders, adding that ‘it’s important that the markets are seen as a key hub in Wrexham’.

Cllr Rogers added: “The traders have made it clear they prefer Option One. It’s not my decision, they have shown confidence in the Council. You all know we want to enhance that part of Henblas Street, had some work done refurbishing those and looking at having a new toilet facility there.

“We want to enhance that part of town – there is £4.6m being invested in that part of town and there have been further discussions about empty shops on Henblas Street.”

However concerns were raised about the future management of the three markets and the council’s capacity to carry out a high standard with the reduction in staff taking place across the authority.

Cllr Alun Jenkins said: “I have concerns about this Councils capacity to do all things we would have liked to have done. The time and energy put into reviving those two markets is going to be immense and I don’t think you’ve got the time to devote to drive this forward.

“There is a need for help in doing that. Keep the markets in our control, but we need to do what Quarter Bridge said and bring in a management company. We mustn’t part with the markets, they must be kept in our control, if we give it to someone else they will destroy what is part of the heritage in Wrexham.

“What in our diminished structure are we able to do on the ground?”

These concerns were echoed by Cllr Dana Davies, who said: “I am concerned that as the Council is reducing staff, whether this new structure will include a resource or time within a resource where we can constantly look for what funding it out there and tap into it. It could go by the wayside and need to get income where we can to invest.

“What’s the projected staffing costs against the budget going forward? What can we tap into that isn’t just VVP – is there any other funding we can tap into. Do we have the resource to be able to tap into funding”

Cllr Wynn added: “Can you run two markets with half the staff? It comes back to point, by keeping management of the three markets together, can keep the economies of scale.”

Ms Lowry said: “Anything from Welsh Government for regeneration comes through VVP. They previously had several but it is starting to all come through the one channel. We have got a reduced resource, but the town is important for the Council. The limited resource we have would seek funding.”

Cllr Rogers added: “We were interviewed by Welsh Government just two weeks, who painted a picture of an exemplar across Wrexham. They have no concerns whatsoever.”

As part of the changes to the market management, the cleaning of the facilities will be undertaken by the Council’s cleaning company – which the meeting were told would stop the management from having to spend time removing litter from the stairwells and tackling anti-social behaviour.

Cllr Rogers said: “I am confident we can do this under current situation, I don’t think it’s right our officer is chasing up anti-social behaviour on stairwell and collecting cans. It is not the role. They should be liaising with traders and getting market moving forward. We are trying to address this and have taken some action. There are other projects coming about.”

Ms Lowry said: “There is a change of delivery models and a change of principles. The team going forward will not be as responsive to cleaning. Our town centre management team will not be about cleaning. This lets staff to be more available with the markets, the viability and marketing.”

Mr Williams added: “If we have a good market superintendent, the right person with the right knowledge, we can drive this forward. Part-time is not good enough, we need full-time, all the time. I do think we have the right people in the Council.”

Members of the committee unanimously voted against option three and instead voted in favour of recommending the markets are kept under the management of Wrexham Council.

However members requested the management come back in twelve months to report on the progress being made and if outsourcing for new staff would be needed.

The final decision is set to be made by Wrexham’s Executive Board at a later date.