New opportunity for the local community of Bolton
Construction, Regeneration

Bolton Market extension and refurbishment

Partner: Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
Project value: £4.2m (contract value)
Completion: 2023

Bolton Market has benefited from an extension and partial refurbishment to create a new food hall to house independent traders. It now offers a wider variety of stalls, appealing to younger shoppers and creating a space where people can meet and socialise in the evenings, which previously was not an option in the area.

This project will help improve the area for local people. The ultimate aim is to increase both the number of visitors and the amount of time they spend there. Designed to bring the community together.

Keeping the market operational throughout

Seddon endeavoured to make sure all 150 existing vendors could continue to trade at the market as live works continued on site for a 12-month period. Maintaining operation was made possible through the good relationships Seddon has with Clear Futures, the local council and the market manager. Teamwork and collaboration were key to the completion of this project.

A three-phase project

Works on Bolton Market were completed across three phases:

  • Phase 1 – construction of the outdoor market
  • Phase 2 – construction of new food hall extension
  • Phase 3 – partial refurbishment works on the market including new entrance areas, external signage , internal lighting, fire alarms and redecoration.
The food hall in the newly extended Bolton Market
A group of people involved in the extension and refurbishment of Bolton Market pose infront of the completed project
£1.325m
social value delivered
£1.118m
MSME spend
15
local people employed

Seddon drove social value activities that were specifically targeted to provide impact needed in the local community. Of the £1.325m delivered, here are some highlights:

  • 32 weeks of training opportunities for local people
  • 30 hours supporting unemployed people into work
  • 185 volunteering hours provided to support local community projects
  • 151 employees from MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) given access to wellbeing programmes
  • 29 hours of expert business advice provided to VCSEs (voluntary and community sector enterprises) and MSMEs
  • 15 local people for the duration of the contract
  • £10k of community support

Delivering improved options for local people

The 48-week programme comprised of a new outdoor market, and partial refurbishment to create a new food hall to house independent food vendors and seating for members of the public in Bolton. This will give a variety of new and diverse food options to choose from in a space designed to bring together the community. Existing traders were overjoyed with the new facility and said the overall experience was extremely positive.

  • 150 market vendors, all maintained operation throughout
  • Bolton Market is a hub of the community
  • Teamwork and collaboration were key
  • New opportunity for local community
  • Delivered on time and in budget

Bolton’s award-winning market is one of our best town centre assets, offering quality local products at great prices. As we modernise the town centre, we want the market to adapt to meet the changing needs of customers. Having more people living in the town centre will make it a more vibrant and attractive place .

– Councillor Martyn Cox, Leader of Bolton Council

Working in partnership with Clear Futures

Seddon is a Tier 1 contractor appointed to Bolton’ Council’s strategic partnership with Clear Futures. A key aim of the partnership is to generate value to the local economy. Seddon is a Bolton-based business, and a significant number of the workforce on this project are based within the Bolton postcode, which meant they had a sense of pride in completing the project.

Our strategic partnership with Bolton Council

Clear Futures and Bolton Council have been working in partnership since 2019 to boost the town centre’s role as a key player in the Greater Manchester economy. This is coupled with a wider aspiration to attract more high-growth companies that will create the additional jobs, knowledge, skills and technology needed to compete in a global economy.

See what we’ve achieved