Teenage Markets come to Barnet

The Crowdfunding phase was completed in September 2017 and the first Teenage Market was due at the end of March 2018. This gap of six months would, I thought, be ample to set up the market. However, the logisitcs of spending a very large donation (from the GLA) proved problematic.

Quite sensibly (at first glance) the procedures required evidience of money being spent before funds could be issued. However, with a grand total of £55,000,  of which £30,000 was from the GLA, and with further donation in kind of £11,000 from the local shopping centre to pay for all the projected staffing oncosts already committed - and £2750 was already ‘spent’ as the 5% fee paid to Spacehive for their services.
This meant, that, of the original costed sum, I only potentially had £11250 as available funds to start buying. Barnet Council’s failure to settle their pledge promptly reduced this amount (by another £5000) to £6250 for the first 3 months of the time by which I had to spend the GLA pledge.

So a period of project planning began. Clearly I could not buy market stalls until I had somewhere to store them, so a shipping container had to come first. Then the purchases had to be arranged so that a gradual accumulation of money would allow me to buy the most expensive items. So, for example, the shipping container cost £3360. I could afford to buy this and then invoice the GLA, which would then allow me to make another purchase.

At the same time as all this was happening, the publicity planning aso had to be turned on the awareness raising of the potential young traders and performers.

What follows are a compilation of two reports I wrote, one for Barnet Borough and one  for the GLA. I am also adding a 'futures' positioning paper that I presented to the Chipping Barnet Town Team shortly after the 12 month trial period was completed. To date, thanks to a further small lottery fund grant, we are able to continue through this year, while I seek to find a secure future for the monthly market.

Teenage Market - beginnings

There were three contributing factors to the creation of the Teenage Market in Barnet in March 2018. They were all critical and all came together by chance.

The catalyst – who was the site for these ideas to meet and interact – was me. Having spent over 30 years as a teacher (firstly in secondary school and then in university) I wanted, once I stopped doing full time work, to do something for my home town, instead of other communities. The first step for me was to join the Town Team. This is a group of people representing different aspects of the community including: our local MP, borough councilor, residents’ associations, museum, theatre, major employers and local high street businesses. I became the Team Secretary – which gave me a chance to develop good working relationships with the borough officers, who rapidly became a source of information and ideas.

The first factor was – the inspirational example. One of the pieces of information that came from the borough, in 2016 was news of an “Improve your High Street” one-day symposium in Westminster. One of the speakers there was Joe Barratt, who with his brother had started the first Teenage Market in Stockport, near Manchester some three years previously. He spoke so enthusiastically about the model – a free opportunity for young people to try their skills at selling or performing – that it struck a major chord with me and the way I had always thought about the broader education of new generations.

Secondly came the trainee priest. Our local church- which I have attended for many years – took on a young curate. He had come to the church following a career as a youth worker in Stevenage and tackled me one day, knowing of my background in teaching, to ask: “Where are all the youth in Barnet?”  He knew where they ought to be, where they should be hanging out, but he had failed to find anyone. We hypothesized that they were probably all indoors living their lives online. We also made some humorous comment about needing to reverse the cries of the 1960’s press (about getting the youth off our streets) and to find a way of bringing them back out again.

The third factor, and the pivotal one, was the Crowdfund London opportunity. Again, the borough officers made us aware of this chance, and I decided to attend the local introductory meeting. At the meeting we were encouraged to brain storm ideas that might lend themselves to a Crowdfunding drive – and the first two ideas came together (really under the pressure of the moment to come up with any idea) – and I suggested the setting up of a monthly teenage market for a one-year trial period. To my surprise it was jumped on by other people at the meeting and also the Crowdfunding staff who were there.

Teenage Market - end of year report to GLA

Do you have any numbers that demonstrate the impact the Teenage Market has had so far?

Here is a summary of stall occupancy over the year:

 

• Total number of stalls? Max: 20 Actual as listed above.
• Number of teenagers participating? Over half the stalls were staffed by two teenagers each month. With the school, college, uni and young enterprise stalls the nunbers were three or four per stall
• Approx. total income generated? Unknown. No figures collected. Enough for many of the young traders to come nearly every month.
• Number of people that have learned new skills? Those who were repeat attendees have developed their presentation skills (both personal and stall dressing) often from each other. I have seen them ‘visiting’ each other’s stalls in quieter moments.
• Any other interesting information? Was that 12.7% footfall increase sustained? Yes, throughout. By far the best day however was the Sunday at the start of December, where several of the traders made as much as money as would have taken three ‘normal’ months.
• What are the next steps? Will the pilot continue? Have you used the stalls for any other local functions etc? See the positioning paper attached. During the pilot year the stalls were loaned, for free, to one school and one church event. The sound equipment was loaned (also for free, but the young sound technician was paid for the day) to a Community Barnet celebration in March 2019 of new year for Latvian and other populations who celebrate at this time.
  
  The traditional market has had free loan of the stalls since November, as their stalls were worn out and unsuited to the new site. This has now caused problems, as they knew that we would be charging them rent form April – once the 12 months trial period was over (as we discussed in one of our meetings). However, it seems that this was not taken on board in terms of their costing – and the stall rental (of £6.00 per stall per use) has just been added to the cost to the traders – which is causing considerable upset ad difficulty. This is as of yesterday, when the traditional marker traders let me know of this.
  
  The positioning paper gives an overview of our possible futures. At present, we have a donation from the Awards for All section of the National Lottery, to cover staff costs, but otherwise stall rental represents the only income stream for the Teenage Market. So we can continue for the next 12 months, but will have to work hard to remain viable under the present philosophy of ‘free at the point of delivery’.
  
  This last section is only days old and is rapidly developing – but it is a difficult problem involving landlords and remote (Southport based) market managers.

We’ve also got 2 quick questions we’d appreciate you view on:

Do you think Crowdfund London increases the opportunity to participate in the planning and regeneration of your local area?

• Strongly Disagree
• Disagree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Agree
• Strongly Agree – It would not have been possible without it

If you had to choose one of the following, which area do you think your project is having/ has had the most impact on the local community;

I cant do just one – so this is a ranking:

• skills and employment                                   2.
• social connections and wellbeing              3.
• community cohesion and relationships   1.
• improved perceptions about the area     4. – a long way fourth

Teenage Market - possible futures

Introduction

By March 2019 the Teenage Market in Barnet will have been running for 12 months. As the fundraiser and de facto operator, I committed to this year’s trial period, which will then come to an end. There are therefore several issues that need to be addressed by the Town Team before the end of March 2019, so that, if the decision is taken to continue with the Teenage Market, it can do so smoothly and without a break.

The three issues that need to be decided are:

• Is the Teenage Market itself worth continuing as a regular event in the town?
• How should the oversight, management and day-to-day operation of the Teenage Market be taken forward
• How can the ongoing ownership and management of the equipment be best arranged?

The Viability of the Teenage Market in Barnet

Over the 9 monthly markets to date:

• There have always been 10 or more young stallholders. This breaks down by month as follows:

There has been live music at many of the markets. This breaks down as follows:

Positives
The Market is meeting a need for young traders and seems to be growing as word gets around. Many traders are returning month after month and are clearly finding the experience useful.

The word has not been spread effectively for bands, but this seems to be gradually changing. In addition, performing outside in the winter is more of a problem than trading (playing guitar especially).

Public opinion is interesting. In conversation people are universally in favour of the idea, but less keen to physically support it. Hence my thoughts (elsewhere in this document) about changing the day for next year.

Negatives

The two failures I would identify are: advertising and attracting a younger age range as market visitors. In terms of advertising, the penetration of social media has been slight – largely down to my own inefficiency and poor understanding of growing a followership. In terms of the attractiveness of the market to younger people, my initial ideas in terms of timing may have been at fault. I decided to hold the Teenage Markets on a Saturday afternoon from 4:00 to 7:00 to save rigging costs – as the rigging team could work on the traditional market and Teenage Market stalls as part of the same job. I had been informed that the traditional market would be operating o the bandstand site by the time the teenage market started and so based all my plans on this information. I also felt that going after into the evening might allow young people to come along after completing their Saturday jobs or sporting commitments. This has not yet happened. The people attending the market tend to be parents and grandparents in terms of age.

I wanted to test the timing thoroughly this year. I would now recommend a change in timing, if the cost of rigging could be met. My initial thoughts are to move the Teenage Market to Sunday, maybe spanning the lunchtime period. My aim, of creating a training ground for traditional market stallholders has not changed. I have three or four young traders in mind who should, I think, be encouraged to move over to the weekly market, provided the organisers of that market can be persuaded to offer an attractive reduction in market fees for an introductory period.

Management of the Teenage Market

This year, I have been the sole manager of the Teenage market and have taken out my own public liability insurance for that role. I would now recommend that a management group be formed and incorporated, and it is this that I will discuss in this section.

Structure
This diagram expresses the structure that I recommend. The day-to-day operations /personnel are a mix of existing and desirable roles and functions.

The roles in the bottom line of the figure above already exist. Riggers, Security and Cleaners are all provided and paid for by the Spires. The sound technician is paid from Teenage Market funds (built into the original specification). This job involves setting up the stage equipment and liaising with each band of performers to link up their instruments to the amplification and then provide a good mix during their set. In addition, they can, on request, provide a digital recording of the performance - sent to the band by email after the market.

The market superintendent (known as the Toby in some markets) is a role that needs to be created. I currently have a funding bid in to “Lottery For All” to pay for such a role for the next 12 months (starting in March 2019). The job description includes all the booking of stalls and performers before the market and then, on market day, the setting up of items outside the riggers remit: advertising banners, lighting, tables, chairs, parasols and the transport of sound equipment from the store to the stage and back.

Constitution
The constitution of the Management Group is a further matter for discussion. The group must be incorporated - so that it is a sole legal entity, rather than all individuals - and recognised as a charity – for the tax advantages.

The constituency of the group might be as follows:

• A member of the Town Team - should the team wish to retain an interest
• The Spires Manager
• An existing market trader
• An existing young trader from the Teenage Market
• A representative of Barnet Young Enterprise – for their school links
• A representative of Community Barnet
• A representative from Barnet & Southgate College and/or Middlesex University

The role of the management group would be to keep a watching brief on the Teenage Market, considering improving outreach, expansion, relationships with the host landlord and other similar matters. They might also in the future consider the viability of extending the teenager market movement across the borough, maybe using the existing equipment as a seed for trialling the event in different borough towns.

Equipment : ongoing use

The successful crowdfunding exercise in 2017 allowed for the purchase of key equipment for the Teenage Market, namely:

• A standard shipping container for storage
• 24 of 3m x 2m gazebo-style market stalls each with a 3m x 1m covered counter
• Stage amplification equipment (front row and back row)
• Lighting for both the market stalls and the stage area
• 3 of 3m x 3m parasols as cover for seated market visitors
• 24 café chairs and 6 café tables
• A free standing 4m x 4m stage plus a 4m x 4m gazebo to fit on top (bought because of a serious possibility that the bandstand would be demolished)
• (There is also money left to purchase heaters for the stage. This has not been done yet because of a lack of infrastructure development, namely an upgrade to the electrical feed by the Spires landlords)

For the length of the pilot phase, we were obliged to not make any money on these items, under the terms of the GLA’s pledging of money to the project. However, from March 2019, we will be able to hire out this equipment should we so desire. This raises a number of questions, which need to be resolved:

• The stalls have a long useful life (as all damaged parts can be replaced by the manufacturer – the only wear and tear is on the walls of the stalls due to weathering. These have a life of two to three years in normal use.) so any rental must allow for their replacement before any profit can be taken. Costs for replacement (as of Feb 2019) are as follows:

The current traditional market managers are using the stalls on free loan at present but understand that a hire charge will be made from March 2019.

• Hiring out any of this equipment has implications:
  • fr safe handling (do we need to factor in the costs for the existing riggers being the only acceptable people to do this work?)
  • fr damage to the equipment by the hirer (a properly drawn up legal agreement committing all hirers to full reimbursement for any damage incurred)

Conversations with local solicitors and also with the traditional market organiser suggest that a rental contract where the hirer accepts full responsibility for any damage is perfectly acceptable.

Bob Burstow
February 2019