Following on its awards as NABMA Britain’s Favourite Market then Shrewsbury Market has helped the Shropshire county town be recognised as one of Britain’s best places to live in an annual guide published by the Sunday Times.
“The award-winning indoor market is surely one of the most inspiring places to shop in the whole country and the town centre has enough quirky delis, bakeries, bars and cafés to keep you in top-notch flat whites and espresso martinis every day of the week,” the guide reads.
Places to Live editor, said: “This guide is a great opportunity to highlight the best places in Britain. It is full of places that show that our village, town and city centres can still be full of life, as well as places bursting with natural beauty, culture, connectivity and most importantly a sense of community”.
In total, 72 places across the UK were selected by The Sunday Times to showcase the best of Britain, with Norwich in Norfolk named as the overall national winner.
The town had further success early in the month when it was announced that Shropshire Festivals, won Tourism Event/Festival of the Year at the 2026 West Midlands Tourism Awards for their flagship event – Shrewsbury Food Festival.
Shrewsbury Food Festival is an annual event in the town’s Quarry Park, which champions local independent producers, chefs, performers, and businesses. It happens across two days on the last weekend in June. The event hosts around 200 food, drink, and homeware exhibitors, chef demonstrations, kids’ cookery school, a live music stage, a family entertainment stage, a field to fork area, VIP tent, corporate party tipis, and a whole area of free kids’ activities.
NABMA is in discussions with Shrewsbury Town Council about hosting a summer visit to their award-winning market to see how it has added to town centre viability, how it has shaped markets and events as visitor destinations and acted as an incubator to local entrepreneurial upskilling. With the devolution agenda at the forefront of the Town Council’ s service delivery the intention is also to consider how this new agenda will add to the whole aspect of place shaping. Look out for announcements.