Budding entrepreneurs offered Christmas opportunity
Alan Sugars and Richard Bransons of the future are being offered the chance to harness their potential with a subsidised pop-up shop at Wellingborough’s Christmas market.
The Wellingborough Business Improvement District (BID) is on the hunt for budding entrepreneurs to hire the wooden stalls, which aim to help make the town centre a “thriving destination” during the festive period.
The temporary retail outlets have been provided for free by Wellingborough-
based AJ Sectional Buildings, also known as Wot No Shed, but to cover electricity and expenses they cost between £50 and £100 a week.
The BID, which stages events to encourage people into the town centre to boost trade, is also sponsoring a package of Christmas activities, including reindeers, fireworks, snow and the market as part of a move to create a ‘winter wonderland’.
John Cable, BID manager, said: “We want to turn Wellingborough town centre into a thriving destination this Christmas, while giving new and upcoming businesses a cost-effective platform from which to launch or build on their business.
“This is the ideal opportunity for people starting out who want to start trading but haven’t got the funds to open a shop.
“With free parking, green spaces and independent shops, Wellingborough is a wonderful place to shop and this Christmas we’re going to turn it into a winter wonderland.”
John Souster, managing director of AJ Sectional Building, based in the town’s Dennington Industrial Estate, said: “We are a family-run Wellingborough company and believe in supporting our town, that’s why we have loaned these stalls to the BID for the Christmas market.”
The plan is to have the market stalls located in Orient Way, which leads up to the main market. Stalls range in size from 7ft x 5ft to 12ft by 8ft.
The Christmas market starts on November 30 and runs for three weeks.