17 Oct 2023
If you were to believe the social media conspiracy theories, St Albans Charter Market should have been run into the ground earlier this year and replaced by large-scale, alcohol-fuelled festivals packing out St Peter’s Street with tourists from London.
But while the tourists have still visited in their droves – and we’re all grateful for that – rumours of the death of the city’s 800-year-old market were, to [mis]quote Mark Twain, greatly exaggerated.
New figures released to the council’s strategy and resources committee tell a story of renaissance and growth, a far cry from the death knell sounded by naysayers at the start of the year.
Between June and September, the average number of market traders working Wednesdays was up 22 per cent compared to the same period in 2022, with a 37 per cent increase in occupied pitches.
For the same period on Saturdays, the number of traders increased by 16 per cent and the number of pitches was up by 26 per cent.
Council leader Cllr Chris White said he was very pleased with how the market was growing.
Although he avoided using the word “offensive”, there was a definite tone which suggested he had decided to take control of the market agenda: “You know, it’s a good news story, so let’s tell people.”
The strategy has been to use the council’s own social media platforms and online Community News to tell people what’s happening on the market, including providing free advertising to individual traders.
“We wanted to say, this is the thing, it’s not just a collection of randomers who turn up each week, you can have commercial relations with these people. As the current portfolio holder for markets, I don’t run around panicking about it, I just let the officers get on with it.
“We aim to get it bigger but we’re starting to get to the point where the available space is full even on a Wednesday. So the last thing is whether we cross the road. My suspicion is that any trader who crosses the road is being slightly courageous.
“You may have got plant sellers over there, but you are taking a bit of a risk being over there. Unless you’ve got critical mass to basically have two markets, one on either side of the road, it might not work.
“But the strategy is to grow it, and it’s amazing when you get the leader of Dacorum coming and saying, ‘Gosh, this is brilliant, Chris, we ought to do this in Hemel’. And I’m thinking, no you don’t, I’ll look at the Charter!”
Of course, these statistics reflect the busy summer period, when the good weather usually sees a rise in traders. Except of course, this year was pretty much a washout for much of the summer, with torrential rain and plummeting temperatures, compared to the heatwave of 2022.
How is the Charter Market braced for the winter and the prospect of cancellations?
“People understand that outdoor markets close from time to time, so there will definitely be at least one, probably two closures during the winter.
“The traders don’t like it if it’s very cold as opposed to just cold. They don’t like it if it’s windy for obvious reasons and if it is hugely wet and you can get a lot of that all year round but they’re quite hardy. It will get worse during the winter but that’s why we look at year-on-year comparisons rather than comparing June with January.”
Cllr White says he is keen to restart meetings with traders now some of the more disruptive elements have left the market.
“I do want to have a calm dialogue, which I think we’ve lacked. That’s one of the problems with this whole thing, a lot of people prefer to go on social media rather than actually get in touch with someone who can make decisions.
“We need to find out how they think it’s going, so that we can actually plan for the future.
“I’m optimistic about the top end [of St Peter’s Street], which has always been the problem, because it’s been very depressing with really poor architecture. Now that that is being cleared and the buildings are being redeveloped, I suspect it will become more attractive.”
The feedback from some of the new Charter Market traders (pictured) has been very positive.
Alfred Daniels’ stall Sesame Kingdom sells desserts made from halva, a sesame-based product imported from the Middle East: “Halva has been called the world’s healthiest dessert and it is certainly attracting a lot of interest in St Albans. I’m really pleased with the response we have had. We have only been trading a few weeks here but have already secured many regular customers.”
Actor and comedian Johnny Vegas was spotted purchasing am Ecuadorian tagua nut pendant from the Happy Elephant stall.
Alison Williams, who runs the stall with her husband Mark, said: “It was great to have Johnny take a look around – he seemed to be very impressed.
“We love it here and the response to our business has been great.”
