My role
December 2018 - December 2021

Marketplace Coordinator

Up to December 2021

~ As Marketplace coordinator, my responsibilities were to be the point-of-call in deciding who our cohort of new traders were to be for Marketplace every week, as well as to curate the space in tune with our guidelines, traders’ needs, and the environment itself alongside my colleague Denice Dever.

Folkestone Marketplace offered space to (within my time): 

• Independent designer-made products

• Handcrafted/made stuffs - i.e. pottery, crochet, curios/gifts

• Homeware & Gardenware

• Interior Furnishings

• Vintage/Retro/Handmade Clothing & Collectables

• Bric-a-brac/Furniture/Antiques

• Food products, i.e. things in jars, no live cooking

• Accessories & quality-made supplies for adults, kids, & animals

• Illustrative & digitally produced prints/Cards/Stationary

~ I had to consistently research around and action relationships with potential new creators, makers and producers to join our community . The role also required me to research around trends, fashions, and news in line with our market and others, both digitally and physically.
~ I was also the general manager and go-to person for any questions/queries our traders or the general public may have had on the day and in the time leading up to market day. I ran all communication lines with members of the trader community which held 200+ independent businesses.
~ Additionally, I ran the Marketplace Instagram (from Nov 2019-Oct 2021), playing a lead role in working with designers on new desired branding briefs (for the general Sunday market, as well as for special Festive editions). With this work, web pages and editorial features for Marketplace/Folkestone Harbour Arm audiences also took shape within my responsibilities.
~ Marketplace grew exponentially over the three seasons I was manager. Through its growing reputation as a site of ‘place-making’ from being a truly unique seaside shopping experience, and in sync with the '#shoplocal' initiative, has led to the market becoming a staple tourist attraction for our seaside town, especially highlighted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic where it was described as a “lifeline”. This time also set the foundations for Marketplace becoming Folkestone Harbours Arms’ first ever-permanent retail space, as well as the site’s Festive Market which returned Christmas 2022 in its biggest-ever size. Throughout my time, The Guardian featured Marketplace in an article, as did other outlets such as Folkelife, local radio station Academy FM (who interviewed myself), as well as many other major influencers across the maker networks.