Traders log in here:
WHAT'S NEW
NABMA Award for Belfast Christmas Market
Our success stories:- (click the thumbnails to view full story)
It's been an award-winning year for Belfast Christmas Market, sponsored by Stena Line. The city's favourite festive event scooped two major awards recently at top industry ceremonies. pictured l-r
Mervyn McNeely, Key Accounts Manager for Northern Ireland and Scotland, Stena Line Allan Hartwell, Chief Executive of Market Place Europe/ Belfast Christmas Market and Ian Carmichael of Belfast City Council celebrate the winning of 'Britain's Specialist Market of the Year' and 'Britain's Greenest Market'
We always knew it was special and it appears the rest of the UK thinks so too. The markets world gathered recently for the first major industry event of 2012 the NABMA (National Association of British Markets) KPR Midlink Market of the Year 2012 awards ceremony.
At the prestigious industry event the Belfast Christmas Market sponsored by Stena Line, took the coveted title for ‘Best Speciality Market 2012’ beating off numerous contenders at the ceremony held at the Birmingham Council House.
The judging panel deliberated over a highly competitive category but awarded the Belfast Christmas Market the title in recognition of the huge impact of the market on the retail, economic and social life of the city.
Allan Hartwell Chief Executive of Market Place Europe (the company that brings the market to Belfast) said
‘We are thrilled with this award, the Belfast Christmas Market has become the jewel in our crown. We work hard to ensure we contribute in a meaningful manner to the communities of Belfast. Each year we sponsor local charities and engage in an extensive education and waste reduction programme. To have these efforts recognised makes it all the more worthwhile.”
Now in its 8th year, the market which is set in the grounds of Belfast City Hall adds a kaleidoscope of festive colour to the City, with its arrival marking the beginning of Christmas for its citizens.
Alderman Christopher Stalford Chairman of the Belfast City Council’s Development Committee said:
“The annual Christmas Market is a huge event for Belfast, and brings with it invaluable economic benefits to the city, in terms of the numbers of visitors which it attracts. This, coupled with its inclusive community programmes, means the market makes a vital contribution to the city.”
“The annual Christmas Market is a huge event for Belfast, and brings with it invaluable economic benefits to the city, in terms of the numbers of visitors which it attracts. This coupled along with its inclusive community programmes means the market makes a vital contribution to the city”
With over 80 traders from across the globe coordinating their travel and timely arrival in Belfast is a task in itself.
Mervyn McNeely, Key Accounts Manager for Northern Ireland and Scotland, Stena Line,
sponsors of the Belfast Christmas market said:
‘We are very proud to sponsor the market and to have assisted with the travel of the traders. Increasingly we see more and more people travelling to Belfast specifically for the market, this is testimony to the wonderful event that has been developed over the past seven years.’
The market returns to our shores this spring for a tour of Northern Ireland and will be part of the cities Titanic celebrations in April 2012.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, IMAGES OR INTERVIEWS PLEASE CONTACT ESTHER HALLER-CLARKE, TYPE AB esther@typeabconsultancy.com 07830513296
Belfast’s annual Christmas Market, sponsored by Stena Line may be just a fading memory, but it has left behind a belated Christmas present for the local environment.
Figures released this week by Belfast City Council show that more than 80 per cent of the waste produced by the event was recycled.
During its four-week stay in the grounds of City Hall, the market collected 44,100 kilos (or 44 tonnes) of general waste, of which more than half was recycled. On top of this, Market Place Europe – who organise the annual event on behalf of Belfast City Council – recycled 37,262 kg of pallets and wood, 14,688 kg of cardboard, 9360 kg of glass, 2320 kg of plastic, 890 kg of vegetable oil and 870 kg of food waste.
All in all, 90 tonnes of materials were reclaimed or recycled. This represented 82 per cent of the total waste generated by the event.
Alderman Christopher Stalford, Chairman of the council’s Development Committee, pointed out that environmental considerations had played a major part in the tendering process for the operation of the event:
“The annual Christmas Market is a huge event for Belfast, and brings with it invaluable economic benefits to the city, in terms of the numbers of visitors which it attracts. However, the council has always been very conscious that it should have other benefits as well, and therefore its success in both actual recycling and the promotion of the recycling message to the business community is equally important to us.”
Councillor Pat McCarthy, Chairman of the Health and Environmental Services Committee, congratulated the market organisers on their high recycling rate and hailed their efforts as an example to everyone else in the city, saying:
“The figures achieved by MPEL are quite remarkable and show just what businesses can do to help both themselves and the environment when they put their minds to it. The council has a duty to drive up recycling rates, as we have extremely stringent EU targets to meet – and will have some severe financial penalties to pay if we don’t achieve these: but, we cannot do it on our own, and the business community has its part to play as well.”
Allan Hartwell, Director of Market Place Europe – who last year won the ‘Greenest Special Event Market’ in the National Market Traders’ Federation’s annual ‘How Green Is Your Market?’ awards - pointed to the economic benefits to his business, saying:
“By making such a deliberate effort to recycle as much as possible of what would have previously been regarded as simple waste, we saved more than £7,500 – or around £1,500 a week – in landfill tax payments. For many businesses, and especially small ones working on tight margins, savings such as these can be vital, and the benefits of adopting a positive, pro-active recycling policy are clear for all to see.”
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION IMAGES AND INTERVIEWS PLEASE CONTACT ESTHER HALLER-CLARKE, TYPE AB
Esther@typebconsultancy.com m 07830513296
The National Association of British Market Authorities has awarded Market Place one of the Market industry's top awards in its "Market of the Year Awards 2012" for the UK's Best Speciality Market - Belfast Continental Christmas Market.
The annual awards sponsored by NABMA and KPR Midlink are a real celebration of success in the industry and recognition of excellence and quality.
We always knew Belfast Continental Christmas Market was special and it appears the rest of the UK think so too.
The judging panel deliberated over a highly competitive category but awarded the Belfast Continental Christmas Market the title in recognition of the huge impact of the market on the retail, economic and social life of the city.
Allan Hartwell Chief Executive of Market Place Europe ( the company which brings the market to Belfast) said
‘We are thrilled with this award,the Belfast Christmas Market has become the jewel in our crown. We work hard to ensure we contribute in a meaningful manner to the communities of Belfast. Each year we sponsor local charities and engage in an extensive education and waste reduction programme. To have these efforts recognised makes it all the more worthwhile.”
The National Market Traders Federation have awarded the prestigious "How Green is your Market Award" for the UK's Greenest Special Event Market to Market Place for the Belfast Christmas Market 2010. Working closely in partnership with the Belfast City Council, specialist Waste Recycling contractors Avenue Recycling (NI)and individual traders Market Place achieved more than 48% recycling of all waste produced at the market. In addition more than 80% of all packaging used by traders in serving customers was either compostable, reusable or recyclable. Everyone at Team Market Place is delighted to have received this national award. We are all committed to introducing sustainable environmental initiatives to all our markets and winning this award is not only recognition for all the hard work that has gone before but will incentivise everyone to achieve even better results in the future.
Pictured here are Ian Hill Founder Director of Market Place receiving the award from Julian Lewis NMTF President.2010 saw us reinforce our commitment to Environmental improvements in terms of our support for ecologically sourced, ethically and fairly traded products and our waste management initiatives. As part of this on going commitment we took part in the EU's European Week for Waste Reduction and we are pleased to announce that we achieved a 42% on recycling all waste from the Belfast Christmas market and 80% of all packaging used in serving our customers was either biodegradable, recyclable or reusable.
Achieving our Environmental Improvement Targets to achieve 42% recycling of waste produce from a temporary market (10% above the Council's own household recycling figures) was an outstanding achievement given the sensitive nature of the location and the lack of mechanized equipment. To follow this up by achieving 80% of all packaging used at the market in serving customers being biodegradable, recyclable or reusable was a testimony to our traders and we cannot thank them enough for making this happen.
Environmental Improvements Following the success of our environmental initiatives in 2010 in terms of waste reduction, recycling and packaging used by our traders we will be continuing to make further improvements throughout 2011 and we are confident that we will shortly be announcing a main event Sponsor in the field of Waste Reduction. We have decided that by the middle of 2011 (in time for the Christmas Markets) all packaging used in serving our customers will have to be of the biodegradable, recyclable or reusable type.
To support our initiatives further we will be bringing forward schemes which incentivize the increased sale of Ecologically Sourced, Ethically and Fairly traded products and will announce these shortly.
One of the Photographs taken at the Continental Mareket in Sheffield has been selected from hundreds of entries to feature in the World Union of Wholesale Markets 2012 calendar.
The photograph taken in May features Dirk van de Wardt caring for his geraniums as he sets out his wonderful array of colour which features at most of the MPEL events.
MPEL are members of the Retail Group of the WUWM, the international body which deals with Wholesale and Retail Markets.Being awarded the new 5 year contract for the operation of the Newcastle Christmas Continental Market allows us to build on the continual improvements we have made over the last 3 years in Newcastle and to grow the event into one of the best Christmas Markets in the UK.
Our reputation for delivering quality Christmas Market events supported by investment in creating the right environment and our understanding of what makes a successful Christmas market is really growing and we are hoping to add to our portfolio of Christmas Continental and Specialist Markets during 2011
National Picture The National Market Traders Federation (NMTF) has been elected to the Board of the Association of Town Centre Management in its capacity as national Market Industry Champions. MPEL is delighted to announce that the NMTF has selected MPEL to be its preferred partner as Industry Champions in respect of its Consultancy Work and its Specialist Continental Markets.
Once again Market Place has been invited by the Association of Town Centre Management to be Corporate Members for markets as part of their Regional Access Programme.
Allan Hartwell has been elected onto the Advisory Council of the Association of Town Centre Management.We are pleased to announce we have been awarded the exclusive contract for the operation of the Bedford River Festival 2012 Continental Market. We look forward to being a part of the festival again and adding value to this prestigeous event. The River Festival is set to attract thousands of people who will be in the UK for the Olympics which start a couple of days after the River Festival event.
Belfast Christmas Continental Market – The timescale in which our construction team built such a huge engineering project, that is the Belfast Christmas Continental Market, was nothing short of a miracle. With only 5 days to construct something like 70 wooden chalets, erect over 12 giant marquees, as well as installing the entire infrastructure and services for the event and then getting approx. 80 traders in and fully set up was a very special process to be a part of and just shows what a great team of professionals can achieve with dedication and hard work. The market itself was its usual success although like many Christmas Markets it was affected by the weather. The great thing about this market is the way it was embraced by the people of Belfast from day 1 and that feeling is stronger today than ever.
PDF Download available on the Traders Page
Forging ahead, Blacksmith Aaron Leach winner of the Belfast Christmas Market young business competition First Pitch Plus pictured here at the Christmas Market with the competition judges.
Arron was awarded the prize of a pitch at this years Market after competing in a Dragons Den Style pitch-off
Pictured here l-r Glyn Roberts, Northern Independent Retail and Traders Association, Andrew Irvine Belfast City Centre Management, Allan Hartwell,Market Place Europe and Lindsey Loughlin Victoria Square
First Pitch Plus is an initiative from the Belfast Christmas Market which will see a young business being offered a residency in the most popular Christmas attraction in the city worth thousands of pounds.
Organisers, Market Place, have joined forces with Victoria Square and the National Market Traders Federation to offer a young business a new platform to promote their business and their brand. With the foundation of an extensive PR campaign they will be given a free chalet at the Christmas Market which takes place from 19 November to the 19 December, followed by a week long residency in the city's most glamorous shopping centre, Victoria Square all free of charge.
Allan Hartwell Chief Executive of Market Place said
'We have been supporting new business from across Northern Ireland each year since we began coming to the City Hall with The Christmas Continental Market seven years ago. This year however we have decided to increase the value of the prize, now we are offering people the chance to change their business fortune long term.'
In addition, after the busy Christmas period the winner will have the opportunity to take up an initiative launched by the National Market Traders Federation which will provide them with a free weekly stall at a leading Market in Northern Ireland. The NMTF scheme also comes complete with a business mentor. By submitting an application entrepreneurs and companies from Northern Ireland who have been trading for less than a year can open the door to a life changing opportunity.
Shortlisted applicants will be requested to present a business plan and sell their business to a panel of judges made up of key retail figures (Andrew Irvine City Centre Management, Allan Hartwell Market Place, Glyn Roberts Northern Ireland independent Retailers Association and Lindsey Loughlin Victoria Square) before being grilled on the viability and sustainability of their business.
Judge Glyn Roberts from the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Traders Association said
'We are very excited about working with some new local business talent. In the current economic climate First Pitch Plus really does afford a new business a platform from which to secure success and longevity'.
If you have a new business idea or have been in business for less than a year and want to showcase your business at Northern Irelands famous Christmas Market and Belfast’s Premier Shopping Centre make sure you enter this fabulous competition.
It was a bit like the Oscars that night in Belfast and - although we didn't win we had at least been one of the nominees for the top Awards in Belfast. As the voters are from the general public I think it says an awful lot about an event that touches Belfast for no more than 5 weeks whereas all the other nominees were permanent features in Belfast. To be considered one of the main Tourist Attractions 2010 when we are only in town for a short period is brilliant and to be beaten by the architectural splendour of the Ulster Museum was not so disappointing.
The Tour of Northern Ireland we went on in May anchored by the NW200 Motor Cycle race in the middle of May and the Maritime Festival in Belfast in the first weekend of June. Thanks to some creative and sustained PR the "Belfast Continental Market" is now a brand in its own right and certainly in Ireland as a whole it is a sellable commodity with plenty of towns and cities wanting to host the event or even a small part of it such is its reputation and quality. The tour was a huge success although tiring and presenting some logistical challenges for everyone.
Our foray north of the border into Scotland proved to be a big hit with the towns and cities we visited with everyone exclaiming that our Continental markets were the best they have seen. Not only was this the first time we had ventured this far North together with our visit to the republic of Ireland completed our involvement throughout the British Isles.
We successfully launched the Republic of Ireland's first large scale German style Christmas Market in the fabulous City of Galway. Significantly the invitation to organise this event for the next five years came as a result of a Galway team visiting the Belfast Christmas Continental Market. Although the level of investment in the new chalets was very significant we were quietly confident of its success from the first visit the City. To say it was well received by the people of Galway would be an understatement they were absolutely fabulous. The Christmas Market attracted over 500,000 people in its first year with an estimated £15m Gross Economic Benefit for Galway. Not bad at all for the first year.
