Public Markets Challenge

What was the Public Markets Challenge?

We worked with the Mayor of London to design and deliver the Mayor’s Resilience Fund which included two phases:

• Open call for local authorities, government agencies and charities in London to partner with us as problem-holders (2020)
• Designed and delivered 10 city-based challenges (2021)

The Mayor’s Resilience Fund was funded by the London Economic Action Partnership. The Public Markets Challenge was delivered in partnership with Well Street Market, Ridley Road Market, Kingsland Market, Hoxton Street, Chatsworth Road and Broadway Market.

What was this challenge about?

Create a scalable and transferrable digital service that creates a single gateway for trader licensing applications and that allows traders to access trading opportunities across London’s public markets by making it easier to register across multiple sites and boroughs.

Where was it focused?

The London Boroughs of Hackney, Camden, Tower Hamlets and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The solution would need to be easily scalable and portable to be operated across all London boroughs.

Who were the end users?

Local authority street trading/market teams, existing licensed traders and potential new temporary traders and entrepreneurs who would like to trial a business idea on a market or street trading isolated site operating under the London Local Authorities Act 1990 or the Food Act 1984.

What impact were we seeking?

• London’s market traders easily register and move between markets in the pilot boroughs and thereby flexibly respond to trading opportunities and changes in demand.
• Provides access to thousands of trading pitches and locations across London and the ability to upscale and grow trader’s enterprise across multiple local authorities with ease.
• Harnesses the broader value that markets bring to the High Street in terms of footfall, cultural and social activities and contribution to the local economy.
• Reduces a key barrier to new traders by making it easier to access low cost, low threshold and flexible opportunities into employment and entrepreneurialism.
• Scaling the solution across all of London’s boroughs to increase jobs and improve local economies

Metrics

• Number of London boroughs involved in pilot
• Increase in new trader applications
• Increase in new types of traders (products/services etc)
• Increase in occupied pitches on LA operated Markets
• Increase in new and existing traders moving between two or more local authorities
• Reduction in application processing time (measured as a percentage)
• Increase in local authority revenue
• Improved trader satisfaction
• Reduction in applications rejected owing to incorrect/insufficient info