Posts in category: News

The recent annual conference held by the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) celebrated success for a further 19 officers from across the UK who have achieved a formal qualification in Market Administration.
Now in its 6th year, over 100 people have now successfully completed the NABMA Diploma course resulting in this qualification becoming the standard benchmark in the industry.
Formally recognised as equivalent to the national framework HNC/D or NVQ this level 4 qualification is accredited by the Institute of Place Management which is part of the Manchester Metropolitan University.

The course is offered to NABMA members at a subsidised rate thanks to the generous sponsorship of “Marketplace”. Allan Hartwell, one of the original founders of Marketplace commented: “It is recognised that market management is an excellent grounding for acquiring a wide range of business experiences, which means the transferrable skills obtained through this diploma make it an ideal investment for the future of any officer working in the industry.”

Hilary Paxman, Chief Executive of NABMA, is delighted with the ever-increasing demand from officers wishing to gain the qualification, “People attend the course for a variety of reasons, either to gain formal recognition for their years of experience, or as a fast-track introduction to market management. Everyone on the course benefits from establishing contacts within the industry that become an invaluable resource for the future. NABMA also offers a wide range of support for market managers and opportunities for continuous professional development”.

Stephen Pickering, [experienced market manager]and the NABMA course leader commented, “After completion of the 6 day diploma course I always endeavour to speak to the senior managers responsible for each candidate to ask if they have noticed any difference in their employee. The consistent responses always report increased confidence in work performance and a drive from students to introduce new initiatives to benefit their market investments.”

Further details of the 2018 course are now available on the NABMA web site or by emailing diploma@nabma.com Anyone interested in registering for the course is advised to make early enquires as places are limited and likely to reach capacity very soon.
For an informal chat about the course please telephone Stephen Pickering on 07756326022

Note: Photo – Class of 2017 celebrating their diploma success at the National conference held in Stratford Upon Avon, September 2017.

On Monday 18th September at the NABMA Annual Conference the winners of the NABMA & Blachere Illumination Annual Market Awards were announced. The number and quality of the entries for this year’s Market Awards were the highest we have experienced and testify to the commitment and dedication of Market Officers around the country.

The winners are as follows:

Market Manager of the Year – John Walker, Calderdale Markets
Market Team of the Year – Cambridge Markets
Market Innovation of the Year – Fleetwood Market
Market Young Person of the Year – Luke Matthews, Saffron Walden and Lucy Bye, Kirklees Markets

Special Market Team Awards – Borough Market, London and Glasgow Wholesale Market

Krys Zasada Award for Outstanding Contribution to Markets – Colin Wolstenholme, Bradford Markets

NABMA Appreciation Awards – Allan Hartwell, Market Place and Joe Harrison, NMTF

NABMA want to thank Blachere for their sponsorship support which enables us to make these Awards and Manchester City Council for their continued support of the Krys Zasada Award. NABMA also want to thank all the people who have submitted nominations which gave the judges lots of difficult decisions to make on the eventual recipients.

Shown below is NABMA President Cllr Chris Rosling-Josephs with the Cambridge Markets Team who won Markets Team of the Year.

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A NEW multi-media campaign to encourage more people to shop at Swansea’s award-winning indoor market has been launched.

Its wide range of family-run independent stalls selling everything from cockles and laverbread to freshly cooked Thai food already attracts more than four million visitors a year.

The bi-lingual campaign is emphasising the tradition, heritage and appeal of the market and includes both radio and digital media advertising.

In addition to the radio advertisements, a short video called ‘Market Morning’ shows the market coming to life each day with the sights, sounds and smells of the market hall and the pride of the traders as they serve their customers.

Another theme stresses the heritage of the market and details its history. The traders are portrayed as the lifeblood of the market who continue to work hard every day to keep the tradition alive in Swansea.

Cllr Robert Francis Davies, Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Major Projects, said: “A huge amount of work goes into promoting Swansea Market to ensure that residents and visitors support this first class retail destination.

“We are about to embark on an ambitious £1bn transformation of the city centre with new retail, leisure and business opportunities, but the market will always remain a star attraction.

“The stalls and the traders make it a unique part of the city, so we will continue to ensure this is the case.”

Swansea Market can be traced back almost 1,000 years when local people gathered in the shadow of Swansea Castle to sell their wares and trade crops and livestock.

In 1652 a market house with a roof was built in Castle Square but by the time Swansea was targeted by German bombs during the Second World War it had moved to Oxford Street.

Some £1.25m was raised for a new building and the current Swansea Market opened for business in 1961.

It has continued to thrive and in 2015 it was named ‘Britain’s Best Large Indoor Market’ by the National Association of British Market Authorities.

If you have not already seen the promotional video, you can see it on the market’s website at www.swanseaindoormarket.co.uk

Details of the 2018 Diploma in Market Administration course are now available here. 

The Diploma provides an excellent introduction to many aspects of markets administration and is recognised as the premier markets qualification for local authority and private market operators – and those from allied organisations.

Each year NABMA facilitate a specialist training programme with high quality lecturers and enable candidates to obtain a professional qualification – the Diploma in Market Administration.

Candidates come together to attend 3 two-day courses in Derby on specialist subjects and complete three assignments to demonstrate what they have learnt from the experience.

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As you will see we now have a new Frequently Asked Questions page –  accessible via the NABMA homepage. The page gives you easy access to over 60 FAQs on a range of market subjects – Open Markets, Policy/Legal matters, Market Halls, Street Trading and Trader Queries on Market Hall stalls.

We wish to cover other market issues so that we can extend the FAQ service. If you would like to comment or to contribute a FAQ – or if you wish to propose an issue that could be addressed within a FAQ, please contact Chris New, Member Services Consultant on 0789 0843 112 or chrisnew_nms@hotmail.com

NABMA would like to particularly thank Steve Hadfield (Tameside), Andy Ward (Warrington), Graham Wilson (Legal Consultant), Peter Turvey (London Consultant) and Colin Wolstenholme (Bradford) – all of whom have contributed their time and experience to support this new NABMA service.
 

Ready, Steady, Cook and Strictly star Ainsley Harriott has praised a unique, new curry recipe developed in a Bolton Indian restaurant as ‘better than a Balti’ after sampling it at Bolton Food and Drink Festival on Sunday 27 August.

The new dish, dubbed ‘the Bolti’ in honour of its Bolton origins, has been unveiled exactly 40 years since the creation of one of the UK’s favourite curry dishes – the Balti – in Birmingham.

The Bolti was developed by one of Greater Manchester’s best curry restaurants. The unique dish is based on a traditional Balti recipe, but has been enhanced with achari pickle, along with Lancashire Sauce made by family firm Entwistle’s of Ramsbottom.

Ainsley, who has been one of the nation’s favourite TV chefs for almost two decades, sampled the dish when it was premiered after his first-ever cookery demonstration at the festival, which runs from Friday 25 – Monday 28 August.

Ainsley said: “The Bolti is delicious. I absolutely loved it. It has a tangy, spicy flavour and is very aromatic, and really moves on and develops the original Balti recipe. The Lancashire Sauce and achari pickle add a whole new dimension.

“This new curry is unique to Bolton – you can’t get it anywhere else. I think the Bolti recipe will be a huge success and it is a worthy rival to the traditional Balti.”

The Bolti was developed by the Royal Balti House in Farnworth, which scores five out of five on Trip Advisor and has won a series of awards.

Manager Keith Meah and chef Anwar Hossein developed the dish in response to demand from regular customers who had tried everything on the menu and wanted something bigger and bolder. The Bolti has proved such a hit with locals that it is now set to be added to The Royal Balti’s regular menu.

Mr Meah said: “We’re thrilled that Ainsley loved our Bolti! It is wonderful that a top chef like Ainsley has given it his support.

“We’re great fans of the Balti – we specialise in them, and that’s reflected in our name! We have many regulars who want to try something that’s not on the menu and so we create new dishes for them. They love this new recipe.

“To mark the 40^th anniversary of the invention of the Balti in Birmingham, the fact that we’re based in Bolton and it’s the food and drink festival, we named it the Bolti. We hope that it will be as popular as the original Balti one day.”

Bolton Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Cllr John Byrne, said: “It’s fantastic that Bolton is home to a unique, new curry recipe which could rival the famous Balti. I love this unique Bolton version and it’s great that Ainsley does too.”