Abingdon Street Market's plans for 2025

Blackpool Gazette

28/01/2025

Transcript

00:00So if you could start by telling me your full name and your position here at the supermarket.

00:24My name is Jake Whittington, Managing Director of Low Blackwell Leisure Company, so we are

00:28operators of Aberdeen Street Market and we've also got a common bar and kitchen as well

00:33and Dave on some tech.

00:37So how would you, overall, how would you say 2024 has done for Aberdeen Street Market?

00:46It's been fantastic.

00:49The traders have surpassed their numbers for 2023, footfalls are even better than 2023.

00:55The amount of events we've done, the community engagement, which is growing year on year,

01:01which makes me super excited for 2025.

01:05Have you had any kind of new additions to Aberdeen Street Market in those times that

01:10you've said a lot about?

01:11Yeah, so we've still got almost the original line-up we have, which is great, and we've

01:17got a new coffee shop, which is Concrete Coffee, and these guys are absolutely smashing that

01:22coffee is absolute rocket fuel.

01:25And just down there we've got Chamo as well, South American Street Food.

01:30These guys are already operating in Preston, in a brick and mortar site in their own restaurant,

01:35and they're operating in other food halls around the country, and they've just opened

01:40one in the UAE as well, so that's where we've got food offering wise.

01:44And then we've just turned the unit down the bottom into a pop-up unit, so we're able to

01:49accommodate weekend traders coming in, so it gives the opportunity for people to try

01:54something new and have their first step into a restaurant.

01:59Of course, retail, we've always got new things going on, we've had The Crypt come in, those

02:04guys are brilliant, they've already got a shop on Burley Street.

02:07Sorry, what do you mean by The Crypt?

02:11The Crypt, The Crypt on Burley Street, so the horror cafe.

02:16They've got a clothing and accessories shop, which they've moved into the market, and they're

02:22absolutely fantastic.

02:24We've got a lot more coming for retail in 2025 as well.

02:29So you've talked about, you've had lots of events, can you tell me a little bit about

02:35those events, and is there one that's particularly stood out?

02:39We do a lot of DJs, a lot of bands, we do quiz nights, which are always a brilliant

02:47laugh.

02:48One that stands out for me is the Leyland Hosen band at Oktoberfest.

02:53So these guys, there's about 12, 15 of them, super interactive night, so for Oktoberfest

02:59they came in, in Leyland Hosens, doing all the dances, doing all the songs, and it's

03:06a really high energy night, that was absolutely my favourite.

03:09And showing the Euros as well, that was a huge event.

03:12Yeah, I can imagine.

03:14And what was the reception to those events?

03:16Brilliant.

03:17No one else is doing it in the town to this kind of scale, so I think for people, especially

03:22just wandering off the street, walking into a full band doing that kind of thing, it's

03:30different for sure.

03:31Yeah, because it kind of stands out for you.

03:33Absolutely.

03:34So can you tell me a little bit about what you've got coming for 2025?

03:382025, so the first couple of months in 2025, we've got a lot going on.

03:43We're going to be focusing on independent retail and trying to revitalise the high school.

03:48So there's so many independent makers and people that aren't quite ready to get their

03:53shop yet, so what we're doing to support them is we're holding makers fairs, we've got pop-up

04:00units, so we've got over 28 retail pop-ups booked in in February alone, and another 40

04:06pop-up units booked in in March.

04:09So this gives the opportunity to come in and sell you things for a couple of days and really

04:13support local business.

04:15We've got Chammo hosting their first supper club, so you can get tickets for that via

04:20our website where you come along and you try their set menu, you have some drinks and it's

04:26a nice little dinner experience for the group.

04:30We've got an open mic night in retail.

04:32We've got Counselling the Community hosting a charity fundraising paint and sip event,

04:37so you can come along and drink wine and paint pictures, it's a really good night.

04:42We've got Makers Market, we've got Blackpool Six coming to do their Battle of the Bands

04:46with us, which was chaos last time, it was great, just so many people coming and performing

04:54on our stage.

04:56We've got Kids Party and we have, I can't say who it is yet, but we have an amazing

05:02Greek food vendor coming into the pop-up as well, so they're going to be with us for

05:05a few days.

05:07And then going into January we've got Print Fair, we've got a dog market, we've got Pups

05:13and Cups, which is a big dog meet-up, we've got Quiz, we've got the Pub Party, which is

05:20again another interactive band, look them up online, they're great.

05:25Makers Market, Vintage Clothes there, and that's just February and March.

05:30So throughout the rest of the year we've got the same events again when it comes to

05:35Octoberfest, we're going bigger and better for Christmas, over summer we've got some

05:39really cool activations.

05:42End of March, beginning of April there's Restaurant Week, which we're going to be hosting, so

05:47I think the main press release is going out today or tomorrow, so it should be in time.

05:55So we're going to be hosting Blackpool Restaurant Week as the central hub, so we're looking

06:00for people to come and do some kitchen demonstrations with us, all of our traders are on board,

06:05and just giving everyone the opportunity to try dishes that they might not normally try,

06:11and it also gives our traders the opportunity to showcase what they can really do with culinary

06:15skills.

06:17And we also have Blackpool 6 hosting a pop-up from Level 6, their restaurant, with us as

06:24well.

06:26So 2025 is going to be a busy year, we're excited for it.

06:31So, and it sounds really good, but it's like, how does it feel to give in different places

06:38like a leg up, as a place to showcase?

06:43That's the idea, in a building like this that we're lucky enough to operate, it's really

06:47important that if you've got an idea and you want to turn it into a business, we're here

06:52as that first step, to prove the concept, figure out how it all works in a supportive

06:58environment, it's low cost, and if it works, hopefully you'll take a unit here, or you'll

07:04take a shop on the high street, but we need to be incubating small businesses in a town

07:11where traditionally they might have been overlooked, or they might have gone out to try and do

07:16these things in Manchester or Liverpool, we want to keep them in the town.

07:20Do you think this is something that Blackpool really needs, these small businesses, to give

07:27them the opportunity to do it in places that struggle with the cost of that?

07:30Personally, I think so, yeah, I think any support that you can do is important.

07:37You look at places like Auntie Social on Topping Street, and they do the same thing, you know,

07:42if you're an independent printmaker, if you're an artist, then they host classes and workshops

07:48to be able to get you into that commercial realm, but they'll also sell your work, and

07:53that network is so important for people that have an idea and a passion, but don't know

07:59how to actually make it a business. So combine all these brilliant things together,

08:04and we've got stepping stones.

08:06How can people get involved in doing that? I know it's probably quite bucked up at the

08:10moment.

08:10No, no, we're always looking for more, because if we don't have a unit available,

08:14we've got the Makers Markets. So the Makers Markets, where you can just have a stand for

08:20the day, we do them once a month, that's all through the Strand Collective, which you can

08:24find on Facebook and Instagram, and if you're looking for a proper food unit, or if you're

08:29looking for a proper retail unit, then if you go onto our website, there's the email

08:35address there for Vendors App, and you just send us a form, what you want to do, how long

08:41you want it for, and then if we're able to, then we'll be in touch and we'll update you.

08:48Yeah, so I think we might have kind of, I think we kind of, I've got to touch on this

09:02a little bit, but like, is there something that our industry market doesn't do now that

09:06you would really like to see in the future, or something kind of new?

09:10I think we've got a big wish list of things that we'd like to do. We would love to host

09:16bigger events, like bigger live music events. We've got to work out how it'll work, because

09:25our main priority is making sure the traders are doing the best business they can,

09:31and obviously our neighbours, we've got to make sure that we're not disturbing them with a giant

09:36party. But yeah, there's always things that we're looking at trying to do, but the number

09:43one objective is to become the focal point of time, where everyone can come and meet,

09:48there's always something for everyone going on. If you look at the event calendar,

09:52there's going to be something for you to do. So the wish list is always growing.

Abingdon Street Market's plans for 2025

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