Spotlight: Helen Power

  

DDAR'S Helen Power talks to us about Levenshulme Market. 

Whether my return from maternity leave coinciding with the return of the weekly street food markets on campus was by chance or design is a matter of some speculation in G9 – as a board director of the company that runs the markets and a lover of all things foodie I certainly have more than one vested interest in their presence on my lunchtimes. 

Many people in the department know that I am a director of Levenshulme Market CIC – a social enterprise that runs a weekly market in Levenshulme every Saturday and other pop up market events across the city – but I though this might be a good opportunity to talk about some of the ethics of the business, our approach to sustainability and how social enterprises are changing the face of many communities.

Levenshulme Market has been in operation since March 2013 with great success ­ we are considered one of the best markets in the region and last year we were finalists in the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards Market of the Year category.

The ethos of the business is informed by something of a rebellion from the reason we were formed in the first place – in 2012 Manchester City Council attempted to put a market on our high street as an “answer” to all its problems whilst admitting their inability to invest in either the market or the high street.  Unsurprisingly that market failed and I, along with a group of my fellow Levenshulme residents, was asked to explore options for setting up a new one. From the outset we felt that it was important to recognise that putting a market into an economically unhealthy high street in an area with high levels of deprivation and unemployment was not going to solve that area’s problems overnight and that any market we established should attempt to do more. And so it was that we set up the first market in the UK to operate as a CIC (Community Interest Company).

As a CIC it is written into our business model that all of our profits are allocated specifically to help develop the high street retail environment in Levenshulme and to empower residents who may otherwise have limited opportunities to earn a living. In December 2014 we used our profits to launch our first awards fund and in March last year awarded £15,000 to eight residents of Levenshulme who had applied for funds to develop retail enterprises ­ from pop up art hubs to market stalls and renovations for existing retailers. This year we have been working on a major research project with Co-operatives UK and the Department of Communities and Local Government which questions some of the assumptions of the business itself and seeks to establish a “map” of the economic health of the high street in Levenshulme and make recommendations for targeted actions for change.

In our day-to-day operations we also have a belief in behaving ethically and knitting sustainability into the core of our business practice. The company has a buying policy which favours reuse (i.e. buying second hand) where possible and using local suppliers when it’s not. We pay a living wage of £10 an hour to all our staff (including to the directors, who are unpaid except for occasional “above and beyond” duties). We are also working very closely with Incredible Edible Levenshulme who are developing a greening project for our site which includes a living roof for the repurposed shipping container where we keep our market equipment, water butts, fruit bush planting, recycling stations for customers and a mug scheme for hot drinks (like at the Christmas markets in Manchester!) that uses mugs made in the UK from recycled plastics. There is also some talk of a composting toilet…If this all seems a bit unexpected for what appears on the face of it just to be an (enjoyable!) local market then I would encourage you to spend some time reading about the work of some other pioneering social enterprises. 

The last 10 years have seen an explosion in businesses that make ethical practice part of their remit and increasingly this is in response to the demands of their consumers – millennials and their counterparts demand authenticity from the brands they hand their money to and it’s not something it’s possible to fake (although some do try, it often comes unstuck rather painfully!). I happened upon this world by accident but doing so has not only opened my eyes to a world of fascinating enterprises and helped me to really push my professional and intellectual boundaries, it’s also left me really well connected to my community (hi, fellow Levy DDAR-ers!) and I would encourage anyone to do the same.