Tented market ready to reopen its doors (From Swindon Advertiser)

Tented market ready to reopen its doors

8:30am Saturday 17th October 2009 in

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A TOWN centre market that has laid derelict for two years reopens today.

Swindon’s tented market will open its doors today offering everything from aromatherapy to heavy metal merchandise.

The opening was due to take place three weeks ago but had to be delayed to give traders more time to get prepared.

But after a revamp, costing new owners CJV Properties tens of thousands of pounds, the iconic building in Market Street is once again open for business.

“It’s a really good feeling,” said Boston Ali-Aklaqi, who is reopening the tailoring business he ran in the market up to 2007.

“There has been a lot of work done to improve the building so it’s a lot better than before.”

The market will house 21 businesses, although a handful of traders will not be ready to open today, according to Shadrack Mureithi from management company Keningtons.

He said: “It is really looking good now and definitely has the feel of a market. There are still a few things to do but we are really excited to be in a position to open the market again.

“It will bring more variety into Swindon’s town centre. You will have all sorts of different businesses under one roof.”

Among the wares on display under the roof will be fruit and veg, mobile phones, aromatherapy products, sportswear, tools, pet foods and many more.

Mr Mureithi said: “We have a good range of traders. I think people will find it worth a visit.”

Work has been undertaken throughout the year to refurbish the building, including repairing the floor and a number of broken windows and re-painting the interior.

“The biggest job was to remove the pigeon poo,” Mr Mureithi said.

“We had to wash it off twice but now we have put spikes up to stop them coming back.”

The official opening of the market, featuring a celebrity guest, is yet to be finalised but is likely to be within the next few weeks.

The tented market operated between 1994 and 2007, until management company Swindon Space Management decided it was no longer feasible to run the business as a market.

The original town centre market had stood on the site from 1892 to 1977.