Town set for market improvement plan

Sep 3 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal

A BID to breathe new life into the recession-hit indoor market in the heart of a North East town will be launched this weekend.

The 20 empty units in Hartlepool Indoor Market will be used to help people in the town set up their own business and at the same time bring customers back.

Enterprise Insight, the national campaign to promote entrepreneurship, has teamed up with Hartlepool Enterprise Centre. ‘Passions into Profit’ is Enterprise Insight’s campaign, which aims to turn empty retail space in shopping malls and town centres into thriving businesses.

Two units at Hartlepool’s Indoor Market, within the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, have been set aside for the Passions into Profit scheme.

One stall will be used as an advice drop-in zone, while the other will be available free to pre-start-up businesses, enabling them to test out their business ideas and sell to the public.

Enterprise Insight’s director of partnerships Pamela Hargreaves, said: “We are looking for new business start-ups, or people who are in the early stages of setting up their own venture who can use the market stalls as a test bed for their products or services.” The overall aim is to fill the 20 empty retail units with new local businesses to bring back community spirit, increase footfall and support local traders who are finding it challenging. The market hall is also going to be renovated.

Ms Hargreaves, of Hartlepool Borough Council, believes this is a welcome boost to the town’s economy.

For more details. visit the website at www.passionsintoprofit.org.uk