B&M and Home Bargains 'are killing' Greater Manchester's market traders... "there's just no footfall anymore"
manchestereveningnews.co.ukAs a boy, Anton Jaskiewicz dreamed of working for himself. Friends and teachers mocked his ambitions but he didn't care. On finishing school, the enterprising teenager set up his own market stall.
More than four decades on, Anton remains a familiar face around Tommyfield Market in Oldham, where he runs The Battery Shop.
In a lifetime working on markets, he has seen plenty - although it hasn't all been plain sailing. In recent months, dwindling footfall has seen the 61-year-old slip behind on his rent payments to Oldham Council, which runs the market. READ MORE: 'More money for millionaires than for the North': Greater Manchester Labour leaders react to mini-budget Anton has raised his prices to try and come up with the money he owes, but it has made little difference. "I've been trying to pay," he explained. "I'm not being awkward.
There's just no footfall anymore. This is all I have ever done since I left school. It's the only thing I ever wanted to do." Anton's current rent bill stands at £750 per month - a sum he had no trouble mustering up back in the market's heyday.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk
