Rayleigh is a market town, and its original market dates back to the 12th Century, but in recent years the market had been located in the car park next to the Civil Suite at the top end of the town. However, for a variety of reasons, the Wednesday morning market had proved to be less popular than in previous years and trade was suffering from a lack of footfall, and a generally declining number of shoppers.
To help reverse this trend, Rayleigh Town Council decided to step in and relocate the market to the area of the “taxi lagoon” in the centre of the High Street. The move took place a few weeks ago and a ceremony has now been held to formally mark the relocation. Since moving, the market has proved very popular with the townsfolk and the dozen or so stalls that are now there have reported a marked uplift in trade. In addition, many of the fixed shops on the High Street have also noted an increase in shoppers on Wednesday mornings, when the market is in session.
Commenting on this successful move, Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois said:
“I would like to congratulate Rayleigh Town Council and all of the stall holders for working together so successfully, to move the market into the centre of the High Street and thus to bring it back to life. In its old location the market was looking rather tired and was going downhill, but since it has moved there has been a marked revival and this has been popular with both stall holders and customers alike. In fact, while there are a dozen stall holders now signed up, the Town Council report that there are 50 additional stall holders who have expressed an interest in coming to the market on Wednesday mornings. If even half of these were to come to fruition this would represent a marked expansion over what is now available to shoppers”.
Mark added:
“After the opening ceremony, which was supported by Mr Jim Shrubb, The Town Crier, I spent time chatting to the stallholders, and also to their customers and it was evident that the move had been popular. It is lovely to see the market thriving again and to see so many of its shoppers enjoying the experience. Now that the market has been officially reopened; I hope that it will go from strength to strength”.