A “TRULY impressive” Bradford spot has been judged the best food market in the UK – just over six months after opening.
Darley Street Market was awarded the title by The National Association of British Markets, which described it as a “bold, modern food destination.”
It opened to much fanfare in July after numerous delays and a spiralling budget.
The market – on a site once occupied by the former Marks & Spencer – replaced Oastler Market and Kirkgate Market, which are both soon to be demolished.
It is spread out over three floors, with non-food stalls on the ground floor, fresh food stalls on the second floor and a food court on the top floor.
There is also an outdoor courtyard that hosts pop up markets, and a stall that teaches young people how to cook and prepare food.
The market has been steadily clocking up positive reviews with visitors scoring it 4.4 out of 5 stars on both TripAdvisor and Google Reviews.
The award ceremony took place last week, and the national organisation described the venue by saying: “Bradford Darley Street Market is a bold, modern food destination that blends culture, community and quality at the heart of a major regeneration project. Truly impressive.”
Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus at the market on Monday, Councillor Alex Ross Shaw, executive for Regeneration, Planning and Transport on Bradford Council, said: “We’re really pleased because the food element of Oastler Market was its unique selling point, so to take that to the next level is fantastic.
“When people spoke about the new market they wanted the best of the old markets like Taplins to come over along with the fruit and veg traders. Adding traders like Jake’s Bakehouse has really taken it to the next level.
“The food court really adds to the ambience and gives Bradford a sense of really being a food destination.”
Since the move, many traders have taken to social media to promote their stalls, and Cllr Ross Shaw said: “Social media has been a key element for the traders.
“Taplin’s follower numbers nearly doubled since the market opened. We’ve given traders that platform and they’ve really run with it.”
He said that many long-established traders, including Priestley’s fishmongers and Roswitha Deli, had seen their best ever Christmas trade this past year.
There have been some issues in the market’s first six months – a ground floor florist has shut and one of the second floor stalls is currently vacant.
Cllr Ross Shaw said the council was: “Still working out how people move around the market” and how they could increase footfall in quieter areas of the market.
Other changes since opening day have seen Caffe Brigante moving up to Darley Street Kitchen, taking over from Perc Up, and a change of ownership at Taste of Thai.
And two new cafes, run by long standing market trader Adam Halliday, have opened on the market’s ground floor.
Cllr Ross Shaw said: “This is the first full year of the market, we’re planning for events and how we can make best use of the courtyard.”
Jonny Taplin from Taplin’s Butchers said: “Our family has been in business for over 100 years and moving to Darley Street Market has been a real catalyst for us to grow and expand our business even further, so much so that we’ve been able to give our Clayton shop a major refurbishment, we’re doing regular pop-ups out in communities and are taking on more staff to cope with demand.
“Our use of social media, growing our followers on Facebook and embracing TikTok has paid dividends, we’ve just launched our YouTube channel and we’re soon to launch our own website. We’re continually putting in the graft and it is totally paying off.”
Over the next few months there will be more live music and events including celebrations for Valentine’s Day, Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday, Chinese New Year and International Women’s Day.
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The market will also have events for children during the February half-term holidays including the Yorkshire Games Festival.
The programme of events will continue throughout the year with events for Easter, and Eid as well as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and summer holiday activities and more as the year goes on.
