Whitecross Street wins national award

EC1 New Deal for Communities (NDC) and Islington Council have received national recognition for their work to transform Whitecross Street Market.

The council and EC1 NDC took the accolade for boosting the local economy at last week’s annual Regeneration and Renewal awards.

EC1 NDC Chief Executive Kirby Swales said the award was wonderful recognition for more than three years of investment to kick-start the once-dying market:

“Three years ago there was only a handful of traders left on the street. Now there’s a waiting list to get a stall, the lunch time crowds are fantastic and what’s important is that a number of stalls are run by local people.”

EC1 NDC and the Council have invested more than half a million pounds in improvements to the market over recent years. This has included making the street more pedestrian-friendly and putting in better pitch sites; each with their own electricity supply. A series of food festivals have been held to help publicise the market and incentives such as a reduced daily pitch rate for traders were introduced to attract more stall holders.