Geoff Hughes owner of Geoff Hughes Family Butchers in Chester Market recently celebrated 50 years as a market trader.

“When I was growing up, my passion was playing football. One day my sister came home and she asked me if I wanted a Saturday job at the Market. My mum took me in the very first Market, but my life was in Chester Market 2 so to speak. I went in to see a couple, Edna and John Fernyhough. I started working with them when I was 14. My job was to clean up, I used to scrub the wooden racks , and that always started at 3 o clock so I could listen to the football.”

Geoff says that the market was “thriving” in 1975 when he joined. ” There were people with small holdings that had chickens and grew their own veg and they would be queuing up on Saturday for a stall. They sold potatoes with the mud still on, homegrown cabbages and cauliflowers.” The market had 13 butchers during this period.

“Once I’d settled in with the cleaning jobs, she allowed me to use the knife and skin some meat off the bones! I worked for them and when I came to leaving schools, I tried to get in all the big places around Chester. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Most of the people that got into those places had family members already working for them. When I couldn’t get anything I asked my boss if they would take me on full time. They gave me a months trial. I asked Edna how I’d done and she said “I think you’ll do Ok”.

Geoff met Debbie when she was working at a stall opposite him and the couple were married in January 1983. “42 years later we are still going!” Geoff says. “We lived in the High Rise flats in Blacon. David, our son was born in 1984.” Later on the Hughes moved to a house in York Street, eventually purchasing their home through the right to buy scheme.

Geoff worked for Edna and John for 7 years but found himself getting into a rut and was looking for a change. He at first tried to buy his brother in law’s butchers shop in Upton, but then was then alerted that another butchers in the market was for sale. He went to the bank and was not offered the amount he needed, but was told of a Government funding plan that would enable him to make up the money. “I had to go and sit in front of a panel. The gentleman at the Enterprise centre helped me with a business plan. It was all raw to me, the business side of things was new to me. Debbie has played a huge role in the business, she was the backbone of taking the business on, she has supported it right the way through. “

In the 1990s, the Market was still busy with none of the problems that would later materialise. “There was a massive Fishmonger. Some of the displays in those days were great. There was about 6 butchers in the Market.” There was competition between them. “I would have liked it more if we played on a level playing field, but we all did our bit. Our first Christmas was busy, it was great. I loved the buzz and the business. We traded steadily, my son was helping out. The 90s.. it all went by too quick! “

During this steady period, hopes were raised and dashed for a new market with plans for multiple Northgate developments coming and going. ” The Market was beginning to crumble a little bit, the building was getting jaded. We were promised so many times that we were moving to a new market. ” The 2008 financial crash meant the plans by developers ING which included a department store, 70 shops and a performing arts centre never materialised.

“By the 2000s traders were starting to struggle. Traders were given a nice green light that we were moving to a nice new market, and they stood still a bit. They didn’t spruce the stalls up. On my side I was purchasing a new equipment. Other people were saying they weren’t going to do that, and their stalls were looking a bit jaded. One of them was the sweet stall, it wasn’t their fault because they were older. I think they just got stuck in a time warp and in a rut. Jim’s Haberdashery was the same, I’m not criticising them because they were looking to retire. People didn’t like change, especially older people, and that isn’t a slur on the elderly. ” However Geoff praises the efforts of Market Cafe owner Ray. “He came in and he wanted to take his business above and beyond.”

Changing shopping habits were also taking their toll on markets everywhere. “Supermarkets came and gave us a knock. We had Gateway in the Forum “ with TJ Hughes and later B&M also affecting traders. ” We had clothes shops in the old market, we had an overall stall, we had a little freezer shop in there, cooked meat shop, bread shop, we lost all of that. Supermarkets had the BOGOF- marketing to get people into the store. “ The period of uncertainty also saw managers coming and going. “There was one or two I didn’t like and they were just there for the ride. “

The late 2010s were a period of massive change in Chester with Storyhouse opening in the old Odeon and the movement of the bus station. The move cleared the way for the council to develop the current Northgate scheme. Geoff says there was a big fall in trade. “Kids were coming out of school and going straight to the sweet stall, it was rammed. Then all of a sudden, its gone. ” It was to be 5 years before the New Market opened, but positive changes were taking place with the addition of a new group of food traders. Geoff was very positive about this change.

“It was the way markets were going forward. All the older people in the market didn’t like it. But it brought people in, and then they started opening late. Christmas time that would help me because I could stay open later and do my prep. When the foodies started coming in: Nicebites, Steph with her fancy cakes, Vinological, we had That Beer Place coming in. ” The Market became fashionable again after years of decline and attracted a new younger audience. “We got back to the level where we needed to be”

“Then we had another big kick- Covid! We couldn’t cope, it was that busy! We had a member of staff off because he’d had new knee, so there was me Debbie and Gary and my daughter helping. The deliveries went berserk. “ The butchers remained open as an essential trader. “There was the fish, us, David Joinson, the veg and Kevin the cheese. It saved my business.” Sadly the market itself was delivered a killer blow by Covid, with the closure of many businesses. The building itself was by now in a poor state:

“We had massive electrical issues, the toilets were a mess and were closed. The Forum was dead because they weren’t renewing people’s leases. A stall would go and the shutters would go up. The Council offices were closing. People come to me now and say they miss the old Market. I say, I’m sorry I don’t! The situation with the roof leaking and the electricals didn’t help. There was a fire in the substation and it took all the electrics out, so we had massive generators outside providing power.” Construction on the new development had begun in 2020 and the New Market was on its way.

The Councils bought in Rob Monaghan as Strategic Market Manager. “He was there to deliver the development and I think he’s done a good job. They helped me with my business plan when I moved over” A Selection process for traders moving across was implemented with many traders being rejected or deciding not to make the move to the new building. Despite a complicated period of transition, Geoff was positive and excited about the move which he had waited 30 years for. “Some didn’t want to pay the new rents because the rents went up three fold. To be fair to the Council we were on a free rent at the end. They decided they would give us a rent free period to keep us trading. “

“I’ve told people who say they missed the old market, if we were still there now, there wouldn’t be a market. We’d all have gone. It was becoming a derelict market with a few of us ticking along. It was old and tired. People had moved on, they were going to supermarkets. The town was taking a hit, shops were closing, charity shops were opening… ” Reflecting on the current challenges faced by Chester he says: “I feel sorry for people on the streets, a lot of homeless people are there for their own reasons. Some of them can be quite boisterous in the town and the police have no powers to move them on. You go outside Tesco and there’s people shouting and bawling at each other, if you’re a woman with a young kiddy that puts people off! “

The old Market finally closed in October 2022 after 55 years. Geoff had mixed emotions. ” I had spent all my life in there, but I knew it was time to move on. It was the end of an era, but it could have come a bit sooner. But they delivered in the end.”

The New Market opened in November of that year. “It was bonkers! They had to stop people coming in , there was that many people coming in. The first few weeks people loved it..then you had people coming in, who might have come in the old market once every 2 months, you hardly ever saw them and they’d say oh this is not a market this! Its a food hall! Please don’t start saying things like that. The old market had died, if you want a couple of hours to sit down, I’ll tell you what was happening there. Don’t tell me you missed the old market because you hardly ever came in there!”

Geoff is full of praise for the New Market, which has won multiple awards and attracted millions of visitors. Approaching its 3rd birthday, he says the building is “buzzing”.

“They have done it right, the old market had died. If this hadn’t been put in place, we would not have a market in Chester anymore. Trade is much busier in the New Market, it had to be. We get a steady flow of people. Its quieter in the mornings now. Its settled down, some traders wanted 7 day opening, but we need time for maintenance and cleaning. 6 days is ample thanks, I want a bit of time off!

Geoff is critical of recent changes to business rates. “I never used to pay them. We moved in 2022 and the first year I paid a discounted rate of £235 a month. This year its £636 a month. The discount isn’t as much. I took it up with my MP Samantha Dixon. She looked into it but I didn’t get the answer I wanted to hear. They said I could spread the payment out over 12 months , but that wasn’t the issue! I do believe that from next year the business rates will be reformed and we won’t be paying as much. “

Geoff’s funniest memory of his 50 years ? “A remote controlled hospital bed came through the doors with somebody in it. How did it happen!? It rolled into the market, up the Forum and in through the big doors. For whatever reason I do not know, but I saw it with my own eyes!”

He has met many famous visitors over the years. “Prince Edward visited He came to the stall to talk to me. I’ve seen a few faces in the New Market, Sol Campbell, Paul Ince, a few of the Wrexham players come in, but we don’t talk about them! Ainsley Harriot comes in quite regularly. We had the Cheshire Housewives in!

“I think the Northgate end of town has rejuvenated itself, with the Market, the bars, Rufus Court, I like Storyhouse. We go at Christmas, take the grandkids to the Christmas show. We had front row seats for the Wizard of Oz!

“The footfall side of things is a bit false because we have a lot of tourists coming in on buses to use our toilets, but I’m not taking anything away from the footfall, it is good. The little markets in the square are brilliant! They come into the Market and we get some trade from the traders as well. The Maker’s Market is brilliant. “

“I would say anybody who comes in and says its a food hall, needs to walk right around the building and see what we have to offer. It does annoy us when people say that. I do know there are some things we could improve by bringing the right traders in. We have Pop Specs, we have a pet shop. Obviously we are not going to get a haberdashery stall , the way haberdashery has gone. You are not going to get a bra or a knicker stall, but there will be no more food in. The food will not be expanded.

“At the end of the day its known as a modern market. Markets have come a long way.There are a lot of food people in there, but it works and it works for Chester.”