Town’s transformation being fed by trend for street food
With major changes to Barnsley’s night-time offering, Grace Newton looks at how regeneration in the South Yorkshire town has food and drink at its heart.
IN THE recent past, a night out in Barnsley meant rowdy pubs, kebab shops and cheap pints. But the oftenmaligned South Yorkshire market town has been transformed over the last two years by the growth of a new, food-led economy with the flagship Market Kitchen at its heart.
The Market Kitchen opened inside Barnsley market in October and is now almost fully occupied, with just one unit left to let. The project is part of the huge Glassworks scheme to regenerate Barnsley’s struggling town centre, and the council have worked hard to attract big names while still accommodating the needs of independent traders.
Three traditional family-run market cafes were given space in the new food court, and they’ve been joined by the likes of a dessert parlour, an Indian restaurant and a duck rotisserie stall. The icing on the cake is cocktail bar Cucina Sky Lounge, whose owner eschewed trendy Holmfirth to open in up-and-coming Barnsley. There has been interest from a couple wanting to set up a vegan cafe, and applications for the final unit have come from Mexican and Jamaican vendors.
“Barnsley has never had anything like this,” says former Barnsley
Chronicle journalist Daniel Richardson. “People have been promised regeneration before but now they can see things opening and are surprised it is in Barnsley. It’s changing the town centre for the better.”
Barnsley Council officers began planning the 500-seater foodie enclave in 2015. Initially Barnsley was a hard sell when Maria Cotton, the council’s group leader for markets, and her team began approaching established street food vendors from across Yorkshire.
But they have ‘stuck to their vision’ despite doubt and opposition from some quarters. All traders have local links and are encouraged to use produce sourced from the traditional market stalls around them.
Surveys have revealed that people are now visiting the town centre from outside the borough and that local shoppers are making more regular trips and Maria considers the Market Kitchen to be a “gamechanger”. “Our original aspiration was to move the traditional market cafes to a larger space, but with the growth of street food we decided to build on our core offer,” she says.
Traders held their breath before the official opening day last October, but they needn’t have worried – the food court was ‘inundated’, according to Maria, and has already extended its opening hours. In the next few months, Market Kitchen, which took inspiration from the likes of Trinity Kitchen in Leeds and Commune in Sheffield, will announce its 11th and final vendor, open its outdoor terrace, which can seat 60, and introduce a monthly pop-up vendor rotation.
It is just one part of a thriving and ever-improving food and drink scene in Barnsley. Around 20 new restaurants and bars have opened in the past two years, and the ‘seedy nightclubs’ of the past have been replaced by craft beer and gin bars, a Brazilian grill restaurant and a Neopolitan pizza parlour, all independently owned. “People are experiencing something new now, day and night,” says the council’s director of regeneration, David Shepherd.
“We have a catchment area of 340,000 people, but there was leakage to Meadowhall, Leeds and Sheffield because the town centre offer wasn’t the right one. It has changed completely now.”
At the end of 2019, Barnsley welcomed inspectors from the Purple Flag scheme, which awards towns that offer a diverse, safe and enjoyable night-time economy the coveted status.
“We had a brilliant night with them – most of the venues were full to bursting and you couldn’t get a table in the restaurants. Barnsley’s evening economy was always wet-led, but now it’s about culture, great eateries and a relaxed atmosphere.”