Darlington Market could welcome barbers and beauticians

Market Manager Michael Harvey said discussions are underway to bring new tenants to the market, and said his mission is to get the most of the “well-revered” building.

It comes after traders said they feared for the market’s future, with greengrocer and longest-serving stall holder Robin Blair saying earlier this month he could not see any turn around in trade.

Mr Harvey told the Echo: “We are talking with other parties - I do have a plan.

“Anything to do with Darlington has a picture of the clock tower and the market. It is clearly quite a well-revered building, and it was becoming covered in cobwebs and not being used.

Darlington Indoor Market. (Image: STUART BOULTON) “My mission is to get use out of it, whatever that may be, whether it is food, retail, leisure, or beverage. As long as people are using the building, that is all that matters to me.

“We’d like some services in there like barbers or beauticians, something that will generate footfall.

“If we have a treadmill of people coming through the building, what an opportunity that will be for other traders.”

The market was taken over by Market Asset Management (MAM) in 2017 when the then-Labour council relinquished control. MAM says it has since invested millions in the building including a new street food area designed to be an “incubation unit” for start-ups.

The indoor market is aiming to mix traditional stalls with modern street food vendors. (Image: STUART BOULTON) Mr Harvey, who has been manager for three years, added: “It was a rescue mission to make this building work

“There is a romantic narrative that the big bad company came in to kick out all the traditional retailers, which isn’t the case at all. A lot of them (traders) were in massive arrears, and their businesses were failing.

“A lot of people in the market look at it through rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia. But nostalgia doesn’t pay the bills. It needs to work again.

“As traders have left, we’ve brought in others that are a bit more modern with hopes of supporting what is already here and unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be enough.”