Shrewsbury Mayor, Councillor Jon Tandy, has cast his vote for the town’s popular indoor market in a national hunt to find Britain’s Favourite Market.
The national annual competition is being staged by the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) as part of the annual national Market of the Year awards.
While the other catergories are selected by a judging panel, Britain’s favourite Market is decided solely by online votes from members of the public.
Councillor Tandy urged as many people in the town as possible to get behind their market hall and make their votes count.
“I think Shrewsbury Market is the best market in the country”, he said.
“It’s lively, colourful and there’s so much to see. Over the last five years the market has changed tremendously and I just love coming here to shop.
“I hope more people in Shrewsbury will come and use their local market this Christmas time and support the traders who are all local people. I urge as many people as possible to show their support for the market by voting online.”
Supporters can register their votes online at www.nabma.com/vote/ by going to the competition logo, pressing ‘click here to vote’ and entering the name of the market and their email address. Voting will continue online until the end of December.
Shrewsbury Market Hall was narrowly beaten to the title of ‘Britain’s Favourite Market’ two years ago.
The two-tiered market hall opened in the town centre in 1965, replacing a previous Victorian market building. Located between Shoplatch and Claremont Street, it is jointly run by Shrewsbury Town Council and managing agent Jones Lang LaSalle. It contains over 70 stalls including cafes, restaurants, butchers, grocers, artisan food producers, home and gift boutiques, a bicycle shop, art gallery, Shrewsbury’s last independent book shop, a barber and even a resident psychotherapist.
The market’s oldest business is family butchers John Bliss Ltd which was established here in 1967. The Market Buffet eatery is also still thriving after first opening here as a pannier stall in 1968.