Chester’s new Market now open

The new Chester Market opened its doors to the public on Tuesday 8th November in Exchange Square off Northgate Street following a sell-out preview weekend; and will be open six days per week and closed on Mondays.

Opening hours will be from 8am to 10pm on Tuesday to Saturday and from 10am to 9pm on Sundays.

The new market replaces the market which had been located in the Forum since it opened in 1967, with around half the traders making the move to the new market.

The driving force behind the new market has been to create a ‘modern traditional market’ that takes the best of the new breed of thriving city produce markets such as Borough Market in London, or Barcelona market; combined with pioneering communal foodhall markets in Altrincham and Stockholm, to create a unique blend of produce, goods, food and beverage traders in a welcoming and inclusive space for everyone to enjoy – where you really can shop local and eat global.

The design of the market was guided by extensive consultation with residents and traders prior to construction to ensure it could be fit for purpose, adaptable and sustainable.

Cutting the ribbon at the opening was Geoff Hughes, who first started working in the old market when he was 14, later setting up Geoff Hughes Family Butchers in 1996, together with his wife Debbie. Geoff said, “We are delighted to be able to make the move to the new building, as Chester Market begins a brand-new chapter in what I believe to be a very proud history; we look forward to welcoming all our current customers and gaining many new ones.”

Stalls have been constructed from sixty tonnes of solid oak beams expertly crafted to create a warm and natural environment, alongside a heritage corner featuring an 1875 map of Chester and displays about the archaeology of the site and the city’s rich history.

Four seating areas offer customers a range of options from communal banquette style seating around large tables, to a smaller scale garden area under a beautifully crafted pergola and with outdoor seating along the Princess Street walkway and more intimate seating booths in the mini market area overlooking Hunter Street.

The much-loved Chester in Lego display from the old market will be carefully rebuilt into its new home in specially designed cabinets with some new additions added by its creator Richard Trotter.

 The design of the central bar takes its shape from the three arches of the Coachworks Arcade frontage built in 1914 and will be called Lockwood & Co. in tribute to the architects of the coachworks T.M. Lockwood & Sons who designed a number of buildings in the city including the famous black and white No. 1 Bridge Street corner rows at the cross.

 The Council has massive ambitions for the new market; to build on the old market’s success and deliver a significant step-change in environment, choice and experience. It will establish a new benchmark for city centre markets, blending traditional character, range and value alongside innovative new approaches, from nutrition to sustainability, creativity to inclusivity for residents and visitors alike.

For more information and a list of traders see: 

www.newchester.market 

The new Chester Market is part of the Northgate development in the centre of Chester.

Northgate is not a new shopping centre – it’s a leisure destination comprising a new 6 screen cinema, market, restaurants and offices, alongside a new square, arcade and car park.

• Northgate is the biggest building project in Chester for over 40 years, and also includes a new 1km long rainwater drainage tunnel under the city, to reduce flooding and untreated sewage discharges into the River Dee
• Northgate is costing £72m to build and over 300 jobs are expected to be created by the project, the architects were AHR and the site covers almost 2 football pitches and over 200 people are involved in its construction and management; work started on site in July 2020 and construction was completed in autumn 2022
• The first units to open have been the new market hall, car park, Cosy Club and Zizzi. The Picturehouse cinema and other restaurants including North Light, Turtle Bay and BrewDog are currently expected to open in spring 2023
• 300 tonnes of steel framework have been installed, the equivalent weight of 75 Asian elephants, and enough concrete to fill the Northgate Arena swimming pools 2 times over
• The new drain will provide a future-proof environment investment in Chester's growth potential; and can handle 1,000 litres of rainwater per second -that's over 12 bath's worth -and serves an area of around 50,000m2–which equates to around 9 football pitches
• A great deal of care and thought has gone into protecting the archaeology on the site, which was once one of the largest Roman fortresses in Britain; despite finding over 10,000 Roman artefacts, the works have disturbed less than 3% of the archaeology, the foundations have been designed to let the building to ‘float’ above the archaeology, see more www.chesternorthgate.com/archaeology/
• In honour of the Roman 20^th Legion that was based at Northgate, their symbol of a wild boar has been used in the logo for the new market; the market’s stalls are made from 60 tonnes of air-dried oak made using traditional wooden joints, including ‘scarf’ joints which were used in the construction of ships' keels as there was a strong ship building industry in Chester until the River Dee silted up
• The market hall has space for 39 stalls, combining produce and general merchandise with food and beverage traders; with over 400 seats across 3 separate areas, including a garden area, a stage and a big screen
• The public were invited to submit names for the new central square and arcade that was formed from the middle arch of the former coachworks façade built in 1914; over 800 names were submitted and a final public vote from a shortlist selected Coachworks Arcade and Exchange Square with over 5,500 votes cast online
• Four trees have been planted in the new square, with over 750m2of green walls incorporated to the development, these will capture over 980kg of carbon annually, the equivalent of planting 38 trees
• Extensive cycle parking will be provided across the scheme including an indoor cycle hub, the 800-space car park will include over 40 electric vehicle charging points and the exterior will feature nesting boxes for swifts and bats; the two stair-cores feature murals painted by Chester artist Graham Boyd depicting aspects of Chester’s rich history and heritage
• Social value outcomes include over 650 apprentice weeks, 110 employment opportunities, 22 school and college visits, and 20 community engagement activities
• 99.7% of waste from the site has been recovered or recycled; recovered Roman sandstone has been used to repair Chester’s historic city walls and 200 tonnes of sand excavated from the drainage tunnel donated to Chester Zoo.

Pictured - Cutting the ribbon L to R: Graham Pink, Director Commercial Management and Delivery, Debbie and Geoff Hughes, Rob Monaghan, Market Development Manager, with Market traders and management team behind.