RADCLIFFE Market has been hailed as blueprint of how a generation of small street dining, food and service businesses are hungry to reinvent the high street experience.

The refurbished market has been included in a new report as a leading example of how communities can improve high streets after the pandemic.

It praises Radcliffe Market’s vision to ‘connect people to fresh and local food’.

The market offers dine in sessions on Thursday and Friday nights and from noon on Saturdays and Sundays with several small outlets offering a range of drinks and dining such as Mogul Punjabi food, Caribbean food from the Blackbird Pantry, Nana Luisa’s wood fired pizza and House of Bun burgers.

Among the niche food retailers at the hall are artisan bakers Lo So Do, Market Garden heritage fruit and veg and Kev the butcher.

Other traders at the market providing non-food services include The Phone Doctor and the Guilty Barber Club.

The report, published this week by international law firm Withers, says Radcliffe Market is an example of a venue which ‘puts the community at the heart of its vision’.

The market was refurbished by Bury Council in 2014 and then taken over by the community group Radcliffe Market Hall Community Benefit Society in 2018.

It is celebrated in the ‘green high street’ section of the report.

The report said: “Radcliffe Market is enticing customers with fresh, local food, ethical products and local services unavailable elsewhere in the area.

“And while it sells some great products, the hall also offers spaces for socialising.

“When it comes to choosing vendors at the market, there are certain criteria they must fulfil.

“As the website states, ‘any new business that we bring into the market must benefit the community in some way’, as well as show an innovative, educational and communal value.

“The project also has local culture and collaboration at its heart and gives back to the community by donating 25 per cent of all membership fees into helping those who need it in Radcliffe.”

Jeremy Wakeham, CEO of the Withers business division, said: “Without doubt the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened an already challenging situation on our high streets and accelerated the need for action.

“Yet there is hope and opportunity for those willing to innovate and collaborative, like the team behind Radcliffe Market.

“People really do want their local area to succeed.

“Coming out of lockdown, and spending more time in their local high street, they want to have a community hub on their doorstep where they can shop, socialise, work and be entertained.”