Spalding councillor wants town to follow Grantham’s example to boost market

Council bosses have been urged to follow the example of a nearby town which has massively increased its number of market traders.

Spalding councillor James Le Sage wants to see the success of Grantham’s markets - which has seen the number of traders rise - replicated in the town.

He has said South Kesteven District Council has been able to increase the number of traders at Grantham from 11 to 44 in a year-and-a-half.

Concerns have been raised in recent years about Spalding’s market and how the number of traders has dropped dramatically compared to before the pandemic.

Coun Le Sage asked South Holland District Council leader, Coun Nick Worth, about the plan for the town’s markets at the last full council meeting.

He said: “What are we doing to encourage new traders to come to our local markets? Would it now be advantageous if we speak to the council about the changes at Grantham and learn from what they have done to increase their market by 400%?”

Coun Worth said he would be more than happy to speak to South Kesteven District Council and is happy to take on best practice.

He said that a number of our traders have been there for a while and go out all weathers but added that the challenge is getting younger people to stand at the market.

Coun Worth said: “They like to come to big footfall events and the challenge for me is to get enough footfall in there to encourage people to come.

“We are putting on extra events every Saturday leading up to Christmas and I have asked for money to go into the budget for next year to put on extra events on market days.

“If we can put more events on - and they don’t have to be big events - events attract people to the town.”

He also added that having fitness classes in the town centre while the Castle Sports Complex work is undertaken will also help bring in more people to the town.

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