Residents are being invited to take a stall at the new monthly events being held at Wednesfield and Wolverhampton city centre markets, as well as weekly festive stalls at Bilston market on the run up to Christmas.
City of Wolverhampton Council is launching the new initiative to encourage new and young traders to the markets and into business. The project has received £50,000 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
To help new traders, half rent on stalls will be available for the first 4 attendances and young traders will get free rent for the same period. Young traders need to be between 16 and 30.
The craft and young trader events will begin at Wednesfield market, High Street, from 28 October and at the city centre market, Cleveland Street, from 4 November.
They will then run at the city centre market on the first Saturday of the month, from 8am to 4pm, and in Wednesfield on the last Saturday of the month from 9am to 3pm.
Weekly stalls will also be on offer at Bilston market, Wood Street, during the festive period, running every Friday in December from 9am to 3pm.
Young trader Sam Bains, who trades at Bilston indoor market as Dizzy scents, originally started her business during the Covid-19 lockdown when she started making wax melts for friends and family.
Sam said: “I enjoyed making them and I slowly started doing craft fairs and car boots on weekends. Then I started to add extra products like fragrance oil, room sprays and bath bombs and tried my first market stall which I enjoyed doing.
“I loved the market atmosphere and meeting new people each time. I decided to join Bilston indoor market earlier this year and have been here 6 months now and am really enjoying it.”
Councillor Craig Collingswood, City of Wolverhampton Council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for our residents who might be thinking of setting up and running their own businesses.
“Markets are a really great way to begin. Set up costs are low and stall holders can concentrate on building up great face to face relationships with customers.
“We’ll also be backing this up with our package of support for young traders, which includes teaming up with a mentor who has market trading experience, access to business support and enrolment onto the Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme.
“We want to create more opportunities for local people, so if you are a crafter or a young trader and have a business you’d like to start or one you’d like to grow, we’d love to hear from you.”
For stall hire and more information about the craft and young trader events please email markets@wolverhampton.gov.uk or call 01902 555200.
