Blackburn Market Hall

Blackburn Market trades from one of the largest purpose-built halls in the North of England and is home to many unique independent businesses. The range of locally-sourced foodstuffs is impressive but the rising cost of structural repairs to the 1960’s building has demanded a rethink of it’s future. Quarterbridge was brought in to develop a Business Plan to modernise the management, procure a replacement market building and give traders a real incentive to expand their businesses.

The Council has taken the bold step of leasing a 70,000 sq ft new-build structural shell from Blackburn Shopping Centre, to be fitted-out by the Council and promoted as an “anchor” for this privately-owned development. The new market layout will be unashamedly modern and reflects the best retail design from the UK and abroad - a transparent glazed envelope with uncluttered open sightlines and displays. Opening is scheduled for April 2010 and Quarterbridge is specifying the equipment and finishes with the fit-out designers, Capita Symonds. The market will provide an IT infrastructure enabling traders to run EFT and EPOS and will incorporate a Business Nursery area to encourage start-up ventures. Considerable design emphasis has been placed on thermal insulation and energy efficiency to minimise operational costs-in-use.

In anticipation of the move Quarterbridge is working with the Council to introduce management streamlining and match-funding for a Trader business development package to be part-funded by LEGI – the government-backed Local Enterprise Growth Initiative.