Market back in business at heart of community

A community market is delighted to be back open and supporting local traders after facing months of uncertainty during the coronavirus lockdown.

Washington Market Village was forced to close at the end of March, leaving a number of local traders and businesses facing an uncertain future.

But now, with new safety measures in place, market village is ready to thrive once again.

Despite some early reservations about reopening, traders have returned to the indoor market and desperate to get business back to how it was.

Manager of Washington Market Village, Allison Kelly said: “Like every business who had to close during lockdown, it was very challenging for us both from a business point of view and a personal one.

“The day we closed was quite sad. We didn’t know how long this was going to be for and what was going to happen to all the traders businesses.

“We all have mixed feelings reopening again. My team all wanted to get back to work and to busy themselves but were a little anxious at the same time.

“I’ve always said that any market is the beating heart of a community and Washington is no exception.

“No doubt the rest of this year is going to be very tough but Washington needs its market.”

After reopening, the market introduced a number of social distancing measures to keep customers and traders safe, including extra cleaning, providing face masks and gloves, hand-santising stations and having a one-way system in place.