Abingdon Street Market's plans for 2025
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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.