Traders 'adjusting' to erecting own market stalls

Market day in Ripon on Thursday had a different feel for traders

Ripon Market traders have spoken after the first day of business when they had to supply and erect their own stalls following a decision by North Yorkshire Council to no longer provide them.

"We knew it was coming, but it still hit this week," said Brian Murphy.

The 52-year-old has been working on his fruit and vegetable stall since he was a child and it has been in his family for more than a century,

"In the long-term I hope we can carry on. We've just go to adjust."

For Mr Murphy, the thought of setting up his own gazebos and tables seemed "daunting" but he and his team practised ahead of Thursday.

"It wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be," he said.

He is concerned that the self-erecting stalls will not withstand poor weather in the way the council's could.

"They were brilliant. They were the best stalls anywhere in Yorkshire. Top quality. and solid wood made by an undertaker."

Brian Murphy's family have been trading at Ripon Market for more than a century

William Finan, 30, runs a clothes stall and thinks the future of market trading lies in self-erect stalls.

"We've been self-erect now for a number of years. I think going self-erect is a positive thing. Other traders are throwing a little bit of hullabaloo.

"Just get on with it, we've all got a job to do."

Simon Lacey, 53, is a cheesemaker who works full-time in a factory.

However, on Thursday he was in Ripon as he had to stand in for his daughter on their cheese stall.

She is pregnant and unable to physically put up the stall herself.

"Everyone's got an individual case, for me personally it's massively affected how we do things down here," he said.

"It's like shutting your shop for a day – you can't not do this market. I just have to find more time."

Simon Lacey's daughter usually runs the stall but as she is pregnant she could not have erected it

Richard Hughes, 50, is a local business owner who uses Ripon Market to buy fresh bread for his restaurant.

He signed the petition to keep the council-provided stalls.

He said: "Market day is a big day in any market town. Market towns need all the help we can get.

"Community doesn't just happen, you've got to fight for it. Anything detrimental to the market is detrimental to Ripon and its future."

Traders have had to invest in their own stalls with the change in policy

North Yorkshire Council has said that self-erect stalls worked well at other markets, and corporate director of environment Karl Battersby said the change had been proposed for more than a year.

He said it had involved "detailed discussions with market traders".

"We also extended time scales to enable everyone to prepare for the changes, which bring Ripon Market in line with the other outdoor markets we manage across North Yorkshire.

"A number of traders in Ripon already set up their own stalls at other thriving markets in the county, where this arrangement has proven to be successful."

He said the previous service of erecting stalls was subsidised by the council and was "costing taxpayers thousands of pounds each year".

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