Altrincham Market has been a roaring success. But don't try to imitate it

'There was a lot of representation from people saying that we shouldn’t be effectively gentrifying the market'

Dear Millers — today’s edition is about a place that is familiar to many of you: Altrincham Market, that emblematic example of town centre regeneration that has left many councillors in other parts of Greater Manchester green with envy. Not just that, the market’s success has attracted attention further afield — from government taskforces and local leaders searching for the silver bullet that might transform their high streets.

But what’s the secret of the market? And can it be replicated elsewhere? We asked the journalist Shanna McGoldrick to find out. In today’s story, she speaks to co-founder Nick Johnson and tries to ascertain whether there were any losers along the way. “The traders felt strongly they had been sold out by Trafford Council,” one local person tells her.

Community callout: Before we get to today’s story, if you’re a social worker or ex-social worker in Manchester or Cheshire, Mollie would love your help with a story she’s writing for next week. You won’t be named or identified — please get in touch.

---

Give your business a fresh start

From today's sponsor: Is your office looking tired? Re-energise your team by moving to a sharp new space with inspiring neighbours. Bruntwood SciTech offers tailored spaces which connect you to a 1,100-strong national community of science, tech and innovation-led businesses including the likes of Roku, AO and Deliveroo. Whether you’re growing your team, or looking to make stronger connections within a tight knit community, we can find the perfect space for your business to flourish.

See workspaces in Manchester and enquire today.

---

Your Mill briefing

⛓️ Strangeways inmates released early under government plans to ease prison overcrowding have described the conditions inside as “disgusting”, saying the 1868 prison is overrun with violence and drugs. Shabana Mahmood, the lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice, described the situation as “dire”. Karl Wilson, from Birmingham, was jailed for two years and six months and has been in and out of prison since he was 15. He told BBC Radio Manchester Strangways is “one of the worst I’ve ever been to” and that there were rats running around the wings and prisoners regularly being “stabbed or slashed” over drug debts, with drugs being dropped off via drones on a nightly basis. 

🚄 “The absence of a guiding mind, a single accountable individual in Westminster or Whitehall taking ownership of HS2, led to runaway costs and ultimately the cancellation of the second leg of the high-speed railway project north of ­Birmingham to Manchester,” writes Robert Lea for the Times, covering a new report by the Institute of Civil Engineers into the breakdown of one of the UK’s biggest infrastructure projects. The report concludes that the project’s lack of strategy left people disinterested, and ultimately more likely to be axed.

🏡 Andy Burnham has committed to making Greater Manchester the UK’s only “housing-first” region. Adopting a philosophy first introduced in Finland — which gives people homes as and when they need them, no strings attached. A pilot started in 2019 has helped 430 people off the streets of Greater Manchester so far. In Finland, housing-first policies have reduced long-term homelessness by almost 70%. Burnham, who is now asking for government money to extend the pilot, says it will save the region money in the long term. Currently, £75m a year is spent on temporary accommodation by Greater Manchester’s local authorities, according to GMCA research.

💊 In related news, pregablin has overtaken spice as the “drug of choice” for Manchester’s homeless, say those living on the streets. The class C drug — sold illegally for around £1 a pill — has been linked to multiple overdose deaths across the UK, prompting a government review, and is rife amongst the city’s homeless community. The BBC spent a day speaking to those who have both lost friends to the drug and are now addicted themselves.

🎭 Nazir Afzal OBE, former chief crown prosecutor and chancellor of the University of Manchester, has been appointed chair of The Lowry. “What drew me to The Lowry is the innate sense of belonging it instils in the people that walk through its doors,” Afzal said. “I am blown away by the impact that The Lowry has on local communities and believe wholeheartedly in its potential to take this even further.” Afzal is taking over from Sir Rod Aldridge OBE, who was chair of the Lowry for 17 years.

---

Lots of areas are trying to copy Altrincham Market. Should they be?

By Shanna McGoldrick

It’s a sweltering summer afternoon, and a familiar scene is playing out at Altrincham’s Market House. Business meetings are unfolding over glasses of rosé, children are darting between communal tables laden with food, older couples are sipping coffee and dogs are happily hoovering up scraps. Beneath the clamour beats the jazzy rhythm of glassware clinking, dishwashers thrumming and food sizzling in the open kitchens that line the room. So far, so Altrincham.

Yet it wasn’t always like this. A decade ago, this was a market that prioritised household essentials and big knickers over frozen margaritas. But though the town’s historic market charter — issued in 1290 — was a source of local pride and the area boasted some of the most sought-after schools and expensive houses in Greater Manchester, the market had suffered from dwindling business since the 1970s. As for the town centre, it was struggling to the extent that a 2010 survey found that its High Street had one of the highest shop vacancy rates in the UK.

“It was beginning to feel like a wasteland, almost like a mouth with rotting teeth in it,” says Altrincham native Matt Colledge, who was the Conservative leader of Trafford Council from 2009 to 2014 and the founder of Altrincham Forward in 2012, a task force charged with resuscitating a town centre blighted by antisocial behaviour, run-down shop fronts and a loss of business confidence. “It really did feel quite a desperate place to be,” recalls the 50-year-old.

Improving the market was a key objective and a 2013 bidding process saw the council outsource the running of the venue to Market Operations, a company founded by another local resident, Nick Johnson, and his partner Jenny Thompson. Their pitch: a sophisticated “modern market” that would renew the town’s sense of purpose and establish a collective of independent regional food outlets at Market House, the 1879 grade-II listed building attached to the covered market. Ten years on, the experiment has become something of a case study in urban regeneration.

Its success was almost immediate: In 2015 Altrincham Market was named “Best Local Market” in the Observer Food Monthly Awards, and by 2016, independent shops and restaurants were springing up around the building. In 2018 the town took first place in the Great British High Street Awards, and by 2022 it had been named as one of the best places to live in the UK by The Sunday Times five years in a row. Market Operations went on to achieve similar recognition with Mackie Mayor in central Manchester and with Picturedrome in Macclesfield: this year, Johnson and Thompson were each awarded MBEs for services to the business and food sectors.

Photo: Altrincham Market.

Plenty of local leaders around the country seem to think Altrincham is the model to imitate. But are they right? And given how the obvious class dynamics at play here, have there been any losers along the way?