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Voting Now Open: Britain’s Favourite Market 2026

by GBMANews

The Great British Market Awards 2026, proudly sponsored by Market Place, are now officially live!

Organised by NABMA – The Voice of Markets, these nationally recognised and prestigious awards honour the very best of Britain’s markets, celebrating excellence, innovation and community spirit across indoor, outdoor, food, speciality, community and wholesale markets.

At the heart of the campaign is the much-loved “Britain’s Favourite Market” public vote, giving market visitors, traders and operators the opportunity to showcase their favourite local market.

Get involved

Important information:

Let’s play fair! Individuals are allowed to vote once per day. NABMA reserves the right to remove votes received in rapid succession from the same IP address or other non-genuine / block votes at our own discretion, so please respect the “one a day rule.” We may contact a market if we identify unusual voting patterns. Online voting will be the major contributor in deciding the winner, but other checks may take place to ensure credibility.

A large market is considered to have 50+ stalls, and a small market has fewer than 50 stalls.

Category winners from 2025 are not eligible to enter the same category for 2026.

Nominations must be for the correct category, and incomplete or miscategorised entries will not be considered.

The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence or discussions will be entered into.

We are proud to acknowledge and thank Market Place for their generous sponsorship and continued support of the Great British Market Awards.

Let’s celebrate the best of British markets, and find out who will be crowned Britain’s Favourite Market 2026!

Download: Intro Leaflet 2026 (PDF)

Update to the Great British Market Awards

NABMA has introduced a small but important change to the Great British Market Awards to ensure the competition continues to celebrate the widest possible range of market achievements across the UK.

From 2026, previous overall winners will take a one-year break from entering the same category. This change brings the Awards in line with other national recognition schemes — for example, Britain in Bloom and the Great British High Street Awards — where overall winners step back for a year to encourage fresh participation and ensure a broader spread of recognition across the country.

This new approach is designed to encourage opportunity, diversity, and new success stories. By giving other markets the chance to take centre stage, we can showcase more of the incredible work being done across the sector and continue to raise the profile of markets nationwide.

We’re immensely proud of past winners such as Shrewsbury Market Hall, whose success has been highlighted to government and high street partners as an example of what thriving markets can deliver for their communities. Shrewsbury remains a fantastic ambassador for the markets industry, and we hope to see them — and many others — entering other award categories this year.

The Awards continue to celebrate the creativity, resilience, and community spirit that make UK markets so special.

Real Deal Week-1

A Week of Real Deal Inspiration: Supporting Safe, Fair and Trusted Markets

by News

Throughout Real Deal Week 2025, NABMA has celebrated its long-standing partnership with the Real Deal Campaign for Fake-Free Markets, which began in 2008 and continues to play a vital role in supporting market integrity.

In today’s trading environment, the Real Deal is more important than ever. It helps:

  • Build shopper confidence
  • Support hardworking, law-abiding traders
  • Deter rogue traders and illicit goods
  • Protect markets as valuable community assets

Growing Momentum

This week’s activity has already inspired several markets to start the process of joining the Real Deal, while others have renewed or re-promoted their commitment.

Among them is Greenwich Market, where Market Operations Manager Rachid Ghailane has been working closely with Royal Borough of Greenwich Trading Standards. Rachid called the campaign “an important step in building a market that’s safer, stronger and truly a Real Deal.”

Why Join the Real Deal?

There is no cost to join, and participating markets gain access to a wide range of:

  • Information resources
  • Practical tools
  • Campaign branding and promotional materials

Whether your priority is to deter illegal trading or to enhance your reputation as a trusted, valued destination, the Real Deal can support your goals.

Ready to Start (or Refresh) Your Journey?

If your market hasn’t yet signed up – or you’d like to give your commitment a fresh publicity boost – now is the perfect time to act.

You can:

  • Email Real Deal Campaign Manager Patricia Lennon directly
  • Or speak to her at the NABMA Annual Conference in Stratford this September

Let’s continue working together to promote safe, fair and fake-free trading in markets across the UK.

Contact:
patricia.lennon@realdealmarkets.co.uk
www.realdealmarkets.co.uk

Real Deal Week

Real Deal 2025 – ‘Review and Renew’

by EventsNews

NABMA is delighted to announce a celebration of its long-standing partnership with Real Deal, featuring a week of information, case studies, and discussions from 14 to 18 July.

During the week, we hope you will join us for the events – to review your membership and, by the end of the week, renew your market’s commitment to the campaign.

Each day will showcase why Real Deal is—and has been—so important to the market industry since the National Markets Group was established in 2008 to provide a forum for a national, co-ordinated, cross-sector approach to tackling the trade in counterfeit goods at markets and car boot fairs. NABMA has been a constant and active participant in promoting Real Deal to our membership.

As a reminder, the Real Deal campaign is a cross-sector partnership initiative bringing together local authority trading standards services, market operators and traders, industry groups, and copyright and trademark owners. All are united in their commitment to tackling this problem. It is a preventative campaign focused on a national markets charter and provides guidance, information, and promotional support to market operators and trading standards to help participating markets stay fake-free.

Our week of celebration will bring together NABMA, Real Deal, and the National Markets Group for IP Protection.

During the week, we will explore:

  • What Real Deal is and who it partners with.
  • Whether you are already signed up—and if not, why your market should join the campaign.
  • Case studies of Real Deal in action.

The main event will be on Thursday 17 July, with a free online session:
“Real Deal and its Importance to Your Market and Your Community.”

We will provide an overview of Real Deal, examples of counterfeit items, how to spot fakes, information on stolen goods in markets, toy safety hazards, and more. Booking will be available via the NABMA website.

SIGN UP HERE FOR THE EVENT ON ZOOM: https://nabma.com/event/real-deal-week-review-and-renew/

At the end of the week, we simply ask:
Time to Renew?
Will you (re)sign up?

Can your market afford not to be part of this campaign to protect integrity, consumers, and community?

Join us for this week of celebration and activities—and sign up to be part of Real Deal.

Find out more about Real Deal: https://www.realdealmarkets.co.uk/