Grantham Car Boot to stop running after claims it is ‘no longer viable’

A town car boot has stopped running.

The Grantham Car Boot sale, which was held every Sunday in the Railway Station car park, will no longer be held as it is claimed it is not making enough money.

NCP, which oversees the car park, has told organisers that the event is “no longer viable”, an organiser, who asked not to be named, claims.

The organiser added: “It wasn’t making enough money and that is why it has come to this.

“Everyone went to Allington and nobody was regular here anymore.

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“I liked attracting customers and I tried to build it back up.

“It seems a shame it has to shut down.”

South Kesteven District Councillor Tim Harrison (Ind – Grantham St Wulfram’s) has said it is a “massive loss for the town”.

He added: “I know many people for whom it was an event and a good trip out.

“Getting people together fresh air and reusing items, what was not to like?”

Coun Harrison is inquiring as to whether the car boot will be able to be held somewhere else in Grantham.

A spokesperson for NCP said: “NCP has long supported the local car boot sale, and allowed the organiser to have the full use of the car park each Sunday in return for a small share of the revenue depending on each car boot sale’s profit.

“We also had to arrange that the car park was exclusively for their use for the Sunday, sending staff to site the night before and putting up signs around the site stating this.

“If the car boot sale didn’t happen due to weather conditions then we had still closed the car park for their use from the evening before, and obviously had no income from customers nor car boot sale.

“The organiser told us last year that he wasn’t doing any more car boot sales until at least March this year, so we organised the signage to come down, and reopened the site to function normally on Sundays.

“The site has been used frequently by our customers since then, and starting to get busier. Considering all this, and the cost of our team to close and reopen the site each week depending on whether the car boot sale was happening or not, was becoming unviable as a business for us.

“We had discussed that if it was to go back to the Sunday car boot sessions, that it would have to be with a proper licence in place and a set rate each week to allow us to justify closing the car park the night before and keeping it exclusively for their use on Sunday.

“The organiser was very understanding to our business needs, and so the car park will continue to remain open for all customers over the weekend, and we wish the car boot sale organisers every success in finding a new location, we were pleased to support them for as long as we did.”

What do you think of the car boot not running anymore in Grantham? Let us know in the comments