THE MARKET BOOM

Britain’s street markets are flourishing – between 2020 and 2021, the number of market stall traders nearly doubled across the country*. The pandemic not only made shopping in the fresh air more attractive, it also left shoppers craving something more than the often soulless shopping experience we’d become used to – they began enjoying a proper human connection with the person who grew their carrots or made their sourdough loaf. ‘It’s the personal contact people love,’ says Keswick market manager Phil Byers.