Client: MAKE NIGHT MARKETS
Project: London's Original Night Market
What were MAKE asked to do?
We weren’t actually asked to do this, it was a labour of love (and it nearly killed us, but it was worth it!). A friend of ours returned from the South East Asia raving about the night markets there, their family friendly nature, the buzz, the sensory overload and way it created something that was beyond drinking. We asked, why are night markets not the norm in the UK? We set out to prove they could work. And they did…
How did MAKE do it?
We developed a network of public or open spaces across London that could hold a night market and where there was a compelling argument to animate these spaces because they were quiet or empty after 5pm. Our most successful night markets were at Sptialfields, Kingston, Bermondsey and Elephant & Castle.
We worked with BIDs, landowners, developers and property management companies, such as Kingstonfirst, Lend Lease, Peabody, CBRE, DTZ – people who wanted to enhance the sense of community the neighbourhoods they were building and drive footfall to businesses.
We built a database over the course of five years that included 500 street food, artists and makers. At each market we presented between 30 and 100 traders to between 2,000 and 5,000 visitors over the course of a typical evening.
We then worked with the local authorities to ensure health and safety and trading standards were met and then sourced a range of, logistics suppliers: power, infrastructure, sound systems, lighting and temporary buildings and structures and cleansing.
We built a substantial following on social media, organised large-scale leaflet drops and used our town traders’ social media to maximise our marketing reach. We had amazing coverage from The Evening Standard, Guardian, Time Out and every listing site that mattered – thanks!
As well as the street food, arts and maker stalls, every market had a mix of live entertainment – some of London’s best up and coming bands, DJs and light artists as well as community projects with local schools. We wanted to be much more than street food and craft beer for hipsters.
One of our favourite success stories is the relationship we built with the Art & Animation final year degree students from Kingston University -the world’s leading course of its type. We worked with their leader to integrate our market into their coursework and set them tasks to create incredible shows, installations and experiences at our markets. We hope you all got your first class honours degrees!
What happened next?
We staged over 30 night markets (every summer, Halloween and Christmas) for five years, winning the ATCM’s award for best nighttime project. In the end, as a social enterprise, it took too much of our time away from our other businesses and we bowed out in 2016, tired but happy. It was a blast. So many people who started with us or honed their concepts at our markets now run their own restaurants, bars and shops: Here’s a few. These MAKErs done good.
Pizza Pilgrims / Bleeker Burger / Wild Game Company / The Rib Man / Big Apple Hot Dogs / Bea of Bloomsbury’s / Yum Bun / Mac Factory / Bill or Beak / Makatcha / Dosa Deli / Born & Raised / Peddler Sheffield / food writers Oliver Thing and James Ramsden and the wonderful Jane Parkinson, now resident wine critic on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen – we will never forget Jane’s Sherry O’Clock.
What unique value did MAKE bring to this project?
Because of our NTE work we saw the opportunity to make a great idea happen. Why not practice what we preach. The building of relationships, the partnerships and managing a diverse range of partners is what we do in every aspect of our work. We now offer consultancy if you are wanting to start a night market.