Hexham Farmers’ Market was one of the arly markets in the UK. We started in in 1999, so 2021 marks our 22nd birthday. The market was originally held in Hexham Mart but we have been in the centre of Hexham for many years now. The intention with the move to the town centre was to ensure that people would be attracted into the town and while visiting the market, would also spend time, and money, in the many shops and cafes in the town centre.
At its very peak the market attracted about 30 producers. Some of them outgrew the farmers’ market and ended up supplying supermarkets, but a fair few of our current producers have been coming to the market for many years. A few producers have retired over that time, or decided to wrap up the businesses. We have a few stallholders who took on the business from a previous owner and are now taking their business forward. Fortunately we also continue to get applications from new producers and we try to provide as wide a range of stalls as we can.
Hexham Farmers Market Ltd was incorporated as a not-for-profit limited company in 2001 and is entirely independent. We have a small board of directors made up of both producers and customers and employ a market manager to do the day-to-day work of running a market. The market receives no public sector financial support and raises its income from stallholders. You can read more about our stallholders here.