Press
2021
Chiswick Flower Market featured with a two page spread in the Daily Telegraph on 12th June. You can read the full article by following this link. This is part of our initiative to promote Chiswick to audiences outside the area and we will be having an ongoing campaign across press and media. If you’d like to be featured in this, as Foster’s Books were in the Daily Telegraph article, then please get in touch.
This case study focuses on the creation of Chiswick Flower Market, in West London, to help revitalise the local high street. Chiswick High Road is in West London and – like many High Streets across the UK – has declined in recent years with falling footfall and a rising number of vacant shops. In order to revitalise the area, Chiswick Flower Market was established in 2020 as a community-led project. It was set up as a Community Interest Company and run without public funding by a group of residents on an entirely voluntary basis. It aimed to create a vibrant market, increase footfall of the high road area, support other businesses in the area, including independents, increase awareness of horticulture, and, importantly, to bring the local community together. As the case study concludes, the Flower Market is an example of how the community was brought together to proactively bring life to the High Street. Strong citizen participation created a distinct place with a unique offer for locals and brought new visitors to Chiswick from outside the immediate catchment area. The market team was able to bring together the diverse skills of local residents – and used the Market to publicise the High Road to a wider new audience through digital marketing. The case study, therefore, provides insights into citizen participation, unique offers, and digital place marketing, that other places could draw learnings from.
Chiswick Flower Market reopens on Sunday 2 May. Organisers hope the market will play a vital role in encouraging shoppers back to the local High Rd.
High street retailers and market traders have struggled during the pandemic, as many of them have had to stay closed for most of the year. When the west London open air market started in September 2020, the first new flower market in London for 150 years, it attracted 7,500 visitors and many of the local shops and restaurants reported they’d had more customers on market day than they’d had all year. Time Out promoted Chiswick Flower Market as the ‘best thing to do in London in September’.
The organisers, local residents who volunteer their time to run the market, were able to run three markets in 2020, in September, November and December, attracting 18,000 visitors, rivalling the success of Columbia Rd market in east London. The flower market was chosen by the national High Streets Task Force as an example of how local initiatives run by volunteers can help regenerate the local economy.
When the market reopens on Sunday 2 May there will be traders selling cut flowers, bedding plants, bulbs for spring planting, houseplants, dried flowers, bouquets and arrangements.
They include very well-respected nursery owners such as Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants. The multi gold award winners at the Chelsea Flower Show are retiring from Chelsea this year because it has been moved to September, so they will be selling their home-produced herbaceous perennials at Chiswick Flower Market instead.
Other traders who will be at the market include Columbia Rd traders Steve Burridge, Jill Perkins, Steve Hudson and London House Plants. West London growers include The Kew Plantsman, specialising in rare and unusual plants. Many of the plants on sale will have come from British growers, grown peat free at nurseries in the south east of England.
In the mix will be stalls selling Micro foods; Aubrey’s Strawberries, herbs grown in from Pepperpot nursery and children’s planting kits from Herboo.
Alongside the gorgeous array of cut flowers and live plants there will also be stalls selling plants pots and accessories. As we are encouraging people not to use plastic bags, visitors can buy a stylish, Chiswick Flower Market branded jute bag to carry their plants home or if they live locally they can take advantage of our free delivery by bike.
Chiswick Flower Market is back on Sunday 2 May, 9.30 am – 3.00 pm in Old Market Place, Chiswick High Rd, W4 2DR (outside George IV pub; nearest tube Turnham Green on the District line). Visitors can explore all that Chiswick has to offer, with its many quirky independent shops, cafes and restaurants, riverside walks and the newly reopened Chiswick House.
From May Chiswick Flower Market is expected to take place on the first Sunday of every month throughout the year.
London’s Chiswick Flower Market to return in May
Chiswick Flower Market in London has announced that it will reopen on Sunday 2 May.
A new e-cargo bike service is being trialled in the Chiswick area to support businesses with an alternative zero-carbon delivery option.
Run by Hounslow Council and walking and cycling charity Sustrans, the service is being run completely free for businesses and provides a courier to premises to collect the items for delivery and deliver them in the local area. It’s able to deliver most items, apart from hot and perishable foods, delivering within a 2.5-mile radius of Chiswick.
An initial trial of the service at September’s Chiswick Flower Market has already shown the benefits. The service, which will continue to work with the market, recorded 40 deliveries, covering 110km and saving 30kg of carbon dioxide.
The trial is being run in partnership with London Bike Hub and Our High Road and will initially run on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 4:30pm and 7:30pm, but will be extended if demand increases.
Councillor Hanif Khan, cabinet member for transport at Hounslow Council, said: “This is a wonderful initiative that delivers on so many levels! To make our streets cleaner, healthier and safer for pedestrians and cyclists, we need to reduce the number of car trips being made and allow people space to socially distance while they shop. Using cargo bikes to do local deliveries is a great idea and offers local people great convenience when they are walking or cycling to the High Road.
“We would encourage local businesses to take advantage of this great new free service, especially in the run-up to Christmas. Hopefully it will prove to be very popular.”
November 2020
Chiswick Flower Market will be taking place on Sunday 6 December. Now it’s been confirmed that we are in Tier 2 and businesses have been given the green light to trade again, the market organisers (of whom The Chiswick Calendar’s editor is one) have confirmed the market will be back, selling fresh cut flowers, plants and plant accessories.
Great for presents and great for cheering up the house for Christmas.
They will also be selling Christmas wreaths and decorations, but not Christmas trees, so as not to compete with Chiswick’s existing tree sellers.
As last time, the market will be in the Old Market Place, from outside Chiswick Police Station, down to Lea & Sandemans, and will extend down Devonshire Rd. It will open from 08.30 – 09.30 for ‘tender perennials’ – people over 70 or who are vulnerable to infection – to shop in peace and quiet, with a friend to do the carrying if needed.
Register for (free) tickets on the Flower Market website – www.chiswickflowermarket.com. Everyone else is welcome from 9.30am – 3.00pm. Please wear a mask at the market.
The Columbia Rd of West London
One by one, established traders who have sold their plants at Columbia Rd for many years are seeing the attraction of setting up their stalls in Chiswick. Isabella Flowers is joining the very popular London House Plants, Finest Plants, Andrew Barker, Steve Burridge and Rose Lily Flowers’ Joe Brown (the one who shouts like a proper East End barrow boy).
“We said we wanted to make the Chiswick Flower Market into the Columbia Rd market of west London. I think we can say we’ve done it!” said the Flower Market organisers.
Back in the market also will be Chiswick traders Pot Pourri and W4 Flowers, regular stalls who have been popular with Chiswick shoppers at the previous two markets and some new additions especially for Christmas. The Botanical Baker will be selling highly creative cakes that look very like real plants in pots, which have to be seen to be believed.
As before, there will be a plant creche, so you can leave your plants while you do other shopping in the High Rd, or enjoy a cup of coffee or a meal. A team of volunteer cyclists will also be standing by to pedal your produce home for you for free (within Chiswick) if you wish.
Christmas Flower Market gift bag
Also new from the Chiswick Flower Market team is a Christmas gift bag full of lovely things made by people locally.
It includes a selection of amazing products from our local independents, from the famous and well-established to the intriguing and new. This is an exclusive and original offer (limited numbers).
Contents include chocolates from Michelin-starred La Trompette, coffee from Chiswick’s very own secret roastery, apple juice pressed from Chiswick’s fruit trees, honey from local award-winning hives, antique flower prints, blended teas, dried flowers, bulbs and seeds all sourced from Chiswick and lots more. All this in the Chiswick Flower Market’s very own sustainable jute bag.
£75 including free delivery within the Chiswick area – total retail value of goods over £100. Free delivery within Chiswick. Any profits go back to the market and the High Road, helping the organisers to run the market and promote Chiswick. Buy it as a gift. Or just as a present to yourself for surviving 2020!
Get involved
The Chiswick Flower Market is run by volunteers who are all local residents.
If you’d like to get involved in the market, as a marshal, or offering your time and skills in another way, please get in touch via info@chiswickflowermarket.com.
September 2020
The first Chiswick Flower Market opened on Sunday, with several thousand people visiting the market in a steady stream from when it opened at 9.30am till when it closed at 3pm.
The new monthly market, which will be held on the first Sunday of the month, is the first new flower and plant market to be opened in London in 150 years. Some stall holders were experienced traders, including a couple from Columbia Rd market, while others were launching new businesses, some because they had been made redundant during the coronavirus pandemic.
Most of the stall holders sold all or nearly all their stock. Chiswick businesses in the roads around the market also did very well from the visitors attracted to the market, with several reporting double their normal Sunday turnover.
The organisers, who are all local residents and volunteers, set up the market with the express intention of revitalising the economy of their local high street.
“It was a huge success,” say the organisers. “Queues, literally around the block. Traders pretty well sold out. Lots of them had to send out for more stock during the day and were totally amazed and thrilled at the success.”
A few well-known horticulturists and celebrities also visited the new market, including Nicki Chapman, Arit Anderson, Michael Perry and local resident Jeremy Vine.
Arit Anderson, who lives in west London, said: “It’s really exciting. And what’s really lovely is that the local community can come down here once a month…there’s cut flowers, there’s bedding, there’s indoor plants, there’s outdoor plants, bulbs, you name it, and it’s a really, really lovely thing.”
The organisers had marked out social distancing for the queue, offered hand gel at the entrance and encouraged the wearing of masks even though the market was outside.
Speaking for the organisers Karen Liebreich MBE said: “At the peak we had a short clustering problem around a couple of the most popular stalls, so we put our plan into action which was to close the entrance and ask people to move along, and spread out.
“Mask-wearing compliance was very high (even though it was outdoors). We had 60 marshals on duty over the day who all worked hard ensuring the safety of the visitors. Hounslow enforcement officers and the Met Police were on hand to assist us but did not feel any need to intervene. Safety will always be our number one consideration.”
The next Chiswick Flower Market will take place on Sunday 4 October outside George IV pub at 185 Chiswick High Rd, W4 2DR.
A new monthly flower market opened in Chiswick on Sunday gathering thousands of people with hopes of reviving the hight street.
Chiswick Flower Market, set up by residents Ollie Saunders, Karen Liebreich and Bridget Osborne during lockdown, opened on Old Market Place with crowds queuing to buy flowers, plants and decorative plants products.
The first flower market to open in London for 150 years illustrates the craze around plants and gardening activities, which have surged during lockdown.
Commercial surveyor and co-founder Ollie Saunders, 47, said: “I had a moment this morning where I was a bit overwhelmed.
“We planned it so meticulously, and it was better than I expected.
“I’m very proud of the team that built this and came up with these ideas.”
By midday, 3,000 people had wandered around the 20 stalls selected with care by Mr Saunders, Ms Liebreich and Ms Osborne.
From tropical plants to kids-friendly seeding boxes, all traders share the same dedication to environment and sustainability practices.
Mr Saunders said: “I wanted to create a sort of set up where we can demonstrate good sustainable businesses, get people thinking about the planet and what we should be doing so hence the reason why we got delivery bikes and all sorts.”
The cargo bikes can deliver purchases for free within a 2-mile circle of the marketplace.
Bedding, succulents and tropical plants amongst a wide variety of horticultural products are on sale at the new Chiswick Flower Market.
With the aim to be the Columbia Road Market of west London, Chiswick Flower Market’s volunteers also hope to revitalise Chiswick’s high street, which saw shops closures even before the pandemic.
Mr Saunders said: “I’ve been upset by the way in which Chiswick High Road, like many high streets around the UK, has seen a lot of decline and I thought it was a way to get people to come to Chiswick, have a nice day out and support our local businesses because if we don’t do something, the High Road will die.
“If we can make Chiswick as well known as Columbia Road, then it will be an even better place than it is already.
“Columbia Road is amazing, but I hope we can make something different here in Chiswick.
“We’ve got a slightly different set up, we’ve got more plant specialists and I really want people to get into gardening and have English cut flowers.”
The market has also enabled new ventures to bloom fully, such as Microfoods, a family business focused on microgreens, which launched at the market.
Microfoods owner Thierry Spagnou, 57, said: “It’s the first day today but I’ve been growing microgreens as a hobby for the last 18 months.
“I was selling to friends and families, then I thought ‘Why not the market?’”
For his first time as a market trader, Mr Spagnou offered different types of edible vegetables and herbs seedlings, such as white mustard, pea and broccoli microgreens.
The area is renowned for the popularity of its parks and gardens, with Kew Gardens boasting “the largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world”.
Chiswick itself has had a long history of horticulture, with Chiswick House and Gardens being an early demonstration of English style gardens.
Ms Liebreich said: “The Williams pear and the Conference pear were created just down that road over there.
“The whole area was nursery gardens and market gardens before.
“Paxton, before he went to Chatsworth and to create Crystal Palace, was an apprentice here.
“We have an amazing garden history and the flower market is just the next step.”
Chiswick Flower Market runs on the first Sunday of the month from 9.30am to 3pm, and will be open on October 4, November 1 and December 6.
More than half of Britons do not think their government has handled the COVID-19 pandemic well. That’s according to a poll of more than 2,000 people by the Health Foundation. The UK was one of Europe’s worst-hit during the first wave earlier this year. But as parts of the rest of the continent now try to prevent a second surge of cases, new infections have, so far, remained relatively stable in the UK.
That is bringing consumers back out to shop.
In one London suburb, people were lining round the block to visit London’s first new flower market in 150 years. Lewis Cox set up a stall at the Chiswick Flower Market after a boom in his online business, Urban Tropicana, during lockdown. Emerging from it, though, customers started telling Cox they wanted face-to-face time. “The thing about being an online business is, it’s quite impersonal. You don’t see anyone. Here you get to speak to people and people get to learn a lot about plants.”
There are some things no online shopping experience can replace: a chance to touch, feel, try, to seek advice – and perhaps, simply to be among other people. That is giving founders hope for the “neighborhood economy.”
Ollie Saunders posted the idea of a market to revitalize Chiswick High Road back in February, before the pandemic. The concept quickly gained traction, even as lockdown kicked in. “A lot of shops have closed,” says Saunders, who’s lived in the area for 16 years. “But what’s also great is there’s a real sense of community.” The market will be run as a community-interest company, meaning all the profits go back into improving the area.
In some ways, the pandemic has brought a silver lining for the local business community. Pre-pandemic, it had struggled to compete with big city-center names. Now, with many more people working from home and wary of longer trips, that trend has been reversed.
Springboard analyses retail footfall data across the UK. The company’s insights director, Diane Werhle, says people are tending to stay in their local centers, even after lockdown measures are eased.
There is, of course, another benefit from selling plants right now – stuck at home, many have became a lot keener on gardening. Local resident Barbara Wright says she’s transformed her garden in the past few months. “I’ve also tried growing tomatoes this year, so they’re rampaging around the place now,” she says. “I couldn’t help but come to buy more.”
As winter approaches, much remains uncertain. But right now, this particular local high street is literally blooming again.
London’s first flower market in 150 years – believes the spirit of its community will help it to bloom. @guyhendersonde paid a visit.
With the East End’s Columbia Road re-opened and a new launch in Chiswick, things are looking rosier for flower traders.
Like many stallholders on Columbia Road, Steve Burridge feared the worst for the east London flower market when coronavirus struck and business stopped. “At one point I was thinking it wasn’t coming back this year,” he says.
Come September, however, the longtime Columbia Road trader will leave his reopened Sunday pitch in the care of his nieces to travel west to Chiswick, where London is set to gain its first new open-air flower market for 150 years.
With the country still in the midst of social distancing and economic recession, it may seem like an inauspicious time to be launching a new flower market, but the outdoor setting may be just the thing to capitalise on the scores of new gardeners inspired during lockdown. As the site of one of the earliest examples of an English landscape garden at Chiswick House, as well as the Royal Horticultural Society’s garden in the 19th century, Chiswick is a natural setting for this volunteer-run enterprise.
“It helps that it’s outside, and of course when we started Covid wasn’t a thing — we didn’t realise that actually people would rather go to something outside than inside,” says Bridget Osborne, one of the three co-directors of the market. Previously a BBC journalist for three decades, Osborne is joined in the venture by Karen Liebreich, co-founder of gardening charity Abundance London, and Ollie Saunders, a commercial surveyor. Set up as a community interest company, any profits will be invested straight back into the market and the local community on surrounding Chiswick High Road.
Their aim is to attract as wide an audience as possible, satisfying both experienced gardeners and those simply looking to add some floral charm to their home, and demand for stalls has been high: about 20 traders have already signed up — including several from Columbia Road — which means there is a waiting list for further pitches.
“We wanted from the outset not just to sell all cut flowers, not just to sell foreign flowers,” Osborne says. “We’ve very deliberately gone for a mix, so we’ve got bedding plants, cut flowers, houseplants, and we’ve even got a couple of dried flower [sellers] as well.”
Burridge deals particularly in bedding plants, which he grows in the thousands in his own nursery, and at the first market on September 6 will be offering late-flowering perennials — salvias, alstroemerias, anemones — before switching to plants that will flower through the winter months.
Now 44, Burridge is one of many traders who have been working regularly at Columbia Road Flower Market since they were teenagers. “I left school with no qualifications, and my dad had a stall down there,” he explains. Today, of the 52 stalls operating at Columbia Road, Burridge is related to 26 of the traders. He laughs: “It’s all my cousins, my nieces and nephews.”
The market on Columbia Road began in a gothic structure erected by the philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts in 1869 — a cathedralesque complex with courtyard, colonnades and a clock tower that once stood further down Columbia Road. Spectacular and inappropriate in equal measures, shoppers eschewed it for the familiarity of street traders.
People used to just come for the plants. Over the last 10 or 20 years, it’s turned into more of a tourist attraction
Lack of demand saw the market shuttered in 1886 and eventually demolished in the 1950s, but the modern street market grew from its ashes — at first a Saturday affair but later moved to Sunday to accommodate the growing Jewish population in the area.
“Of course it has changed over the years, because it used to be that people would actually come just for the plants,” says Burridge. “Over the last 10 or 20 years, it’s turned into more of a tourist attraction.”
Higher footfall may not sound like an issue, but a 2017 study of the city’s markets by the Greater London Authority identified tourists and browsers as one of the greatest challenges faced by traders: rather than boost revenue, selfie-hunters crowding around stalls often deter real customers from spending money. Covid, of course, has put a temporary halt to that.
“There’s fewer tourists now so there’s a bit more room for the customers to walk around,” says Shane Harnett, who now runs the Columbia Road stall his great-great grandfather started in 1937. “There’s not a scrum, there’s no pushing and shoving.”
Whether thanks to tourists or locals, before the pandemic London’s markets were actually on the rise: in 2010, there were 163 retail markets; by 2017, that figure had risen to 280. Pre-pandemic, that added up to a £247.6m contribution to the city’s economy each year.
Once synonymous with value and local produce, street markets are increasingly attempting to offer an experience to shoppers in order to compete with supermarkets and online retailers. “We realised that you have to put on something which is an experience — not just sell stuff that you can buy online — if you want people to come,” Osborne says of Chiswick.
Columbia Road does not lack a sense of occasion. At 8am on market day, the early birds arrive for a quick chat with their favourite stallholders, who are already doing a vocal trade in herbs and shrubs. Tourists are hard to spot. A man struggles past the stalls with a eucalyptus nearly as tall as he is; as I am about to move out of my flat, I opt for something only slightly less permanent: bright bunches of limoniums, advertised as “everlasting” by an optimistic trader.
By 11am, the street is packed with customers, perhaps half of them wearing masks and tentatively following the new one-way system. Precautionary measures of this kind may sound innocuous, but risk hitting the high-volume market trade hard: in August, stallholders faced significant rent increases at London’s Greenwich Market, which property manager Knight Frank claimed was “running at a considerable loss”. The number of stalls has been cut and a rota system introduced in order to abide by social-distancing rules, compounding losses in revenue from reduced footfall.
The city’s flower trade is proving surprisingly resilient, however. During lockdown, Burridge actually found himself working more hours than ever. On the day the markets were closed, he put up a Facebook post offering his stock online and was soon getting 150 to 200 orders a week where he had been expecting 10 or 20.
“Suddenly everyone was locked down at home, all the garden centres were closed and everyone wanted plants,” he says. “It was one of the new lockdown hobbies, so even people that didn’t garden before were suddenly gardening.”
Before the pandemic, Nick and Jackie Winter were regulars to Columbia Road, and would often make the two-and-a half-hour round trip from their home in Datchet, Berkshire. They returned for the first time in August after initially being put off by images of crowds on the news. “Gardening has saved me during lockdown,” says Jackie, who was furloughed from her job earlier in the year and found solace in the garden. When asked what they’re on the lookout for today, they reply in unison: “Instant colour.”
The organisers of Chiswick Flower Market are also hoping to capitalise on this renewed horticultural interest, offering Londoners a more socially distanced and sustainable way of shopping. Not only will there be a plant crèche for bulkier items, volunteers on bikes will be on hand to deliver purchases to local homes for free. “People are at home, furloughed . . . the one thing they can do is improve the place they live,” Osborne says. “In that sense a flower market or a plant market is just right.”
Chiswick flower market will be coming to west London this September and every month onwards to give bloom enthusiasts on the other side of the city their fill of photogenic flowers.
Columbia Road’s flower market has earned cult status in east London’s coolest neighbourhood, springing to life every Sunday to fill the street with beautiful colours (and photo opportunities).
For Londoners, locals and tourists, this aesthetically pleasing market is one of the most charming events in the city and a pleasant rite of passage for anyone who claims to know London well.
So it’s very exciting news that west Londoners will soon have easier access to their own slice of the magic in Chiswick. Organisers of a brand new flower market market say they have used Columbia Road for inspiration to give another postcode some flower power of its own.
Chiswick Flower Market will be the first flower market to open in London for a whopping 150 years, launching this Sunday 6 September on Chiswick High Road at Old Market Place.
From 9.30am until 3pm, 20 stalls will set up shop outside the police station selling colourful bouquets as well as plants big and small and classic succulents, too.
After it’s debut this weekend, the market will take place the first Sunday of every month. More than just something pretty to look at, but it has been created with the aim of enriching Chiswick High Road as a not-for-profit enterprise.
Run by a team of locals and small businesses with a shared passion for Chiswick, the market is expected to invigorate the area and complement all of the wonderful cafes, restaurants, bars and boutiques nearby, that the team hope visitors will feel inspired to take a look at while they’re there.
The organisers are all volunteers and have even set up a free cycle delivery option if you live in a two mile radius, in which volunteers are happy to drop your plants straight to your door. Plus, there’s a one-way system around the market to ensure that social distancing is adhered to.
So, with another pocket of London to explore and a whole new flower market to pledge our love to, we don’t think our Instagram will know what’s hit it.
August 2020
The best events, cultural happenings and great things to do in London in September 2020
September in London isn’t just the damp end of summer. The sun is still out so there’s still time to enjoy London’s great outdoors, have a peep in the city’s secret green spaces, and head on a scenic walk around the capital. Now that London is starting to reopen again, why not book a table at one of London’s reopened restaurants, or make the most of the last of the summer sun by heading up to a rooftop bar to sink a cocktail complete with a sun-soaked panorama.
Many of the events and things to do that would usually be taking place in September in London have been postponed and cancelled to ensure event-goer safety. But, London’s brilliant and ever-resourceful artists, performers, experts and craftspeople are still bringing the fun to you. Totally Thames Festival is still going ahead this year with an outdoor and digital programme, as is the BBC Proms with the Last Night of the Proms still being broadcast live from the Royal Albert Hall. London Design Festival will also go ahead with a few changes. If you’re still more comfortable staying in at the moment, there’s plenty of online theatre to watch, digital events to stream and restaurants and bars delivering to your door.
Whatever you do always check with the venue or event first before you visit to double-check what safety measures they have in place and if you have to pre-book in advance. Plus, always keep social distancing in mind.
Here’s your guide to the best events and things to do, online and off, in September in London 2020.
For the first time in a century and a half, London will gain a beautiful new flower market, located in the heart of West London.
Chiswick Flower Market has been set up by a group of residents, and will be the first new open-air market selling just plants and horticultural accessories to be created in the capital for 150 years.
They hope it will become a much-loved spot by all – attracting people to Chiswick High Road and getting the local economy back on it’s feet.
It will be held in the spot where Chiswick ’s first open air market was set up in 1919, by soldiers returning from the First World War who were also looking to create employment during an economic crisis.
September 6th sees the official opening of the first new public flower market in 150 years and one of our fabbo Good Florist Guide members is going to be part of it.
Launched by Ollie Saunders, who heads up the founding team, the Chiswick based flower market is designed to rival Columbia Road with a massive range of plants and horticultural accessories and of course flowers.
Indeed one of the first local businesses to sign up is Dominic Hughes (pictured above with Louise Smith) who runs the fabulous Pot Pourri in Chiswick High Road and has been a member of Good Florist Guide for many years; indeed has been responsible for many of the bouquets received by our Editor.
Ollie, (pictured below with the team) a commercial surveyor, is one of three directors of the new market, along with author Karen Liebreich and journalist Bridget Osborne. Ollie loves flowers and would regularly make the trek to Columbia Rd before the coronavirus outbreak. Karen has a diploma in horticulture and has set up many community projects involving plants as a director of the not for profit organisation Abundance London. Bridget worked for the BBC for many years and is the editor of local website The Chiswick Calendar. All three are passionate about making the place where they live as good as it can be.
“Markets are brilliant places for people to meet friends and shop in a leisurely way which isn’t really possible in enclosed spaces anymore. We’re fortunate that the Old Market Place is spacious, with plenty of room for social distancing and set back from the road, but slap bang in the middle of Chiswick” said Bridget. The team now hope it will become a focal point which will attract people to Chiswick High Rd and revitalise the local economy.
The planned launch date is Sunday 6th September, 09.30 am – 3.00 pm with subsequent markets on the first Sunday of every month: 4th October, 1st November and 6th December in the Old Market Place outside the police station, opposite Waterstones in Chiswick High Rd. W4 2DW. The market will be held in the spot where Chiswick’s first open air market was set up in 1919 by soldiers returning from the First World War, also looking to create employment during an economic crisis.
The team behind the Market: Dawn Wilson (web designer in orange top). Ekaterina Harwood (black top in foreground, interior designer), Ollie Saunders (very back, commercial surveyor with JLL and one of the flower market directors), Bridget Osborne (in front of him, Editor of The Chiswick Calendar and co-director of the flower market), Amanda Parker (in front of me, brown hair and sunglasses, events manager), Karen Liebreich (foreground, turquoise jacket and sunglasses, co-director of the flower market and director of Abundance London), Jeremy Day (back row, commercial surveyor with Whitman & Co), Jim Richards (senior associate, Mackrell solicitors), Michael Robinson (green shirt, pink orchid, engineer), Steve Nutt (behind, surveyor). Kathleen Mitra (finance director).
Chiswick Flower Market is a new market set to open in West London this September, being held in the same spot that Chiswick’s first open-air market was in 1919 and will be the first new open air flower market in London for 150 years.
It will be held on the first Sunday of the month in the High Road’s market place and there will also be a free delivery service via cargo bike within a 2 mile radius for those heavier purchases.
Launches: Sun 6th September 2020,
9.30am – 3pm
Chiswick Flower Market
Chiswick High Road
London W4 2DR
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/U2mBikkC7Qg” /]
July 2020
New Flower Market in London | Floristry Industry Insight
A very warm welcome! My name is Rona Wheeldon and I’ve made it my mission to inspire and support the floristry industry. I’m passionate about this incredible sector and everyone involved, rooting for florists, flower growers and flower wholesalers.
A new flower market, heavily focused towards consumers rather than florists, will be opening in West London this September! And it will be popping up in Chiswick, once a month.
The market is actually the passion project of a group of Chiswick residents who clearly have an affinity to all things floral. But they also want to attract people to Chiswick High Road and revitalise the local economy that’s taken a beating in COVID times.
Columbia Road Flower Market is one of the most popular things to do in the city and now a group of Chiswick residents are hoping to replicate that success in West London by launching the Chiswick Flower Market. The market, which will be held in the same spot that Chiswick’s first open-air market was set up in 1919, will be the first new flower market in London for 150 years.
The stalls will offer a wide range of bulbs, plants and flowers, and the market will also offer a plant creche where you can leave your purchases if you want to go exploring around the area, and a delivery service for locals. The first market will be held at the beginning of September and return on the first Sunday of the month.
Launches Sun 6th September 2020, 9.30am – 3pm
Old Market Place, Chiswick High Road, London, W4 2DW
An upstart has emerged, hoping for their Miracle on Ice – for Chiswick Flower Market, which lands on September 6, is the first brand-new open-air flower market in London for 150 years.
CHISWICK FLOWER MARKET IS PREPARING FOR ITS GRAND LAUNCH.
Say the words “open-air flower market” to any Londoner, and straightaway they think to Columbia Road Flower Market, whose unquestioned dominance is similar to that of, say, the Soviet Union ice hockey team. But now, an upstart has emerged, hoping for their Miracle on Ice – for Chiswick Flower Market, which lands on September 6, is the first brand-new open-air flower market in London for 150 years.
Like any young pretender worth their salt, Chiswick Flower Market are bullish about their ambitions, proudly flaunting their desire to be “the Columbia Road of the West”. But the market has the data to back up their beliefs, having surveyed residents which earned the fledgeling market a 94% approval rating. Chiswick is crying out for a flower market to complete their lineup of incredible places, including coffee shops hidden in phone booths and outrageously sweet bakeries. It’s believed that the arrival of the flower market would give a boost to local retailers and independent shops along the Chiswick High Road.
Though Chiswick Flower Market will be a brand new endeavour, the chosen site has a proud history: Market Place, though used primarily as a car park these last fifty years, was once the beating heart of Chiswick, and hopefully will be once again. Chiswick itself has played an essential role in horticulture through the years; it’s widely accepted as the birthplace of the English landscape movement, was the site of the Horticultural Society’s first gardens, and is home to the UK’s oldest camellias.
Indeed, one prominent local green spot has already signed up to be involved, as Chiswick House & Gardens are playing a pivotal role. Existing flower stalls in the area have been consulted and will be given prime spots in the new market. The likes of local garden centre Wheelers, Chiswick Horticultural and Allotment Society, and London House Plants will also be running stalls. You’ll be able to buy locally-grown and exotically-sourced flora – including bedding plants, house plants, terrariums, cut flowers, seeds and bulbs, fruiting trees, pots, and gardening accessories – and the market is also promising a strong commitment to sustainability, in the form of plastic-free, peat-free, and grown-your-own products.
Though the arrival of Chiswick Flower Market has been delayed a little by the pandemic (it was originally slated to open in May), things are gathering pace in advance of the September 6 grand launch. It’ll be open from 9:30 am-3 pm, and run on the first Sunday of every month. For the remainder of 2020, the market will be in its pilot stage, with a theme for each month; in October, it’ll be Hallowe’en-themed, for November, the focus is on fruits and tulips, and in December, it’s all about Christmas (what else?!). They’ll work social distancing measures into the market arrangement, including designated queuing areas and passing places, and are encouraging people to walk or cycle to the market, with cargo bike deliveries available for free delivery within a two-mile reach of the market.
Author – Anton
After earning my Economics degree from the Royal Holloway University of London, I entered the media publishing world to explore my passion for creative writing, journalism and discover the best social media marketing strategies. I am the creator of Only in London, where I’m focused on writing blogs, reporting exciting news stories in London, and marketing it all around.
Chiswick Flower Market is preparing for its grand launch.
Say the words “open air flower market” to any Londoner, and their mind is going straight to Columbia Road Flower Market, whose unquestioned dominance is akin to that of, say, the Soviet Union ice hockey team. But now, an upstart has emerged, hoping for their own Miracle on Ice – for Chiswick Flower Market, which arrives on September 6, is the first new open air flower market in London for 150 years.
Like any young pretender worth their salt, Chiswick Flower Market are bullish about their ambitions, proudly flaunting their desire to be “the Columbia Road of the West”. But the market has the data to back up their beliefs, having conducted a survey of local residents which earned the fledging market a 94% approval rating. Clearly, Chiswick is crying out for a flower market to supplement their lineup of incredible places, including coffee shops hidden in phone booths and outrageously sweet bakeries. It’s hoped that the arrival of the flower market would provide a boost to local traders and independent businesses along the Chiswick High Road.
Though Chiswick Flower Market will be a brand new endeavour, the chosen site has a proud history: Market Place, though used primarily as a car park these last fifty years, was once the beating heart of Chiswick, and hopefully will be once again. Chiswick itself has played an important role in horticulture through the years; it’s widely accepted as the birthplace of the English landscape movement, was the site of the Horticultural Society’s first gardens, and is home to the UK’s oldest camellias.
Indeed, one influential local green spot has already signed up to be involved, as Chiswick House & Gardens are playing a key role.
Existing flower stalls in the area have been consulted, and will be given prime spots in the new market, and the likes of local garden centre Wheelers, Chiswick Horticultural and Allotment Society, and London House Plants will also be running stalls. You’ll be able to buy locally-grown and exotically-sourced flora – including bedding plants, house plants, terrariums, cut flowers, seeds and bulbs, fruiting trees, pots, and gardening accessories – and the market is also promising a strong commitment to sustainability, in the form of plastic-free, peat-free, and grown-your-own products.
Though the arrival of Chiswick Flower Market has been delayed a little by the pandemic (it was originally slated to open in May), things are gathering pace in advance of the September 6 grand launch. It’ll be open from 9:30am-3pm, and run on the first Sunday of every month.
For the remainder of 2020, the market will be in its pilot stage, with a theme for each month; in October, it’ll be Hallowe’en-themed, for November, the focus is on fruits and tulips, and in December, it’s all about Christmas (what else?!). They’ll work social distancing measures into the market layout, including designated queuing areas and passing places, and are encouraging people to walk or cycle to the market, with cargo bike deliveries available for free delivery within a two-mile radius of the market.
All in all, it looks as though Chiswick Flower Market has more than enough to keep Columbia Road looking nervously over its shoulder.
If picking up your weekly trio of hydrangeas or bunch of eucalyptus brings you joy but don’t live anywhere near East London’s Columbia Road, we’ve got some blooming great news to share.
West London is about to get its own flower market and it’s heavily focused towards consumers rather than bonafide florists, so you can rest assured you won’t have to wake at an ungodly hour like you do when visiting the likes of New Covent Garden, or buy in bulk.
The market will be popping up in Chiswick, and is being coined the “Columbia Road of the West” and it has a rather lovely story behind it too. Not tied down to any big commercial ventures, the market is actually the passion project of a group of Chiswick residences who clearly have an affinity to all things floral, but also want to attract people to Chiswick High Road and revitalise the local economy that’s taken a beating in COVID times.
The founders are Ollie, a commercial surveyor and weekend Columbia Road enthusiast; author Karen Liebreich who happens to have diploma in horticulture; and Bridget Osborne, ex-BBC journalist and editor of local website The Chiswick Calendar.
Nikki Tibbles or Philippa Craddocks they may not be, but the trio certainly know their roses from their ranunculus and their sheer passion for injecting something new and colourful into the area shines through.
The market will be held in the exact same spot as where Chiswick’s first open air market was set up in 1919 by soldiers returning from the First World War. In a rather touching case of history repeating itself through tough times, that original market was setup to create employment during an economic crisis.
The founders are in talks with traders now ahead of the September launch but are hoping for a carefully curated selection of stalls that sell everything from plants to bulbs, bedding plants to exotic house plants.
Pencil in Sunday 6th September, which is the planned date for launch, followed by subsequent markets on the first Sunday of every month. For those who want to get the market early (it runs between 09.30 am – 3.00 pm but everyone knows the best blooms are snapped up in the morning) and don’t want to traipse their purchases around with them, there will be a Plant Creche where you can leave your purchases and enjoy the bounty of other shops, pubs and restaurants in the area. Plus volunteer cyclists who will deliver your plants to your door absolutely free if you live in the area or £5 if you live further away.
Looks like Chiswick is set to be a hefty competitor for East London’s uber cool Columbia Road come September – who would have thought it.
THE FIRST MARKET WILL LAUNCH ON SUNDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER, 09.30 AM – 3.00 PM WITH SUBSEQUENT MARKETS ON THE FIRST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH: 4TH OCTOBER, 1ST NOVEMBER AND 6TH DECEMBER IN THE OLD MARKET PLACE OUTSIDE THE POLICE STATION, OPPOSITE WATERSTONES IN CHISWICK HIGH RD. W4 2DW.
For the first time in 150 years, a new open-air flower market will open in London in September.
Billed as the “Columbia Road of West London”, the Chiswick Flower market will sell plants and horticultural accessories, with organisers and local residents hoping that it will revitalise the local economy of Chiswick High Road.
The market will occupy the Old Market Place outside the police station and is the brainchild of Ollie Saunders, who would regularly make the trip east to Columbia Road before lockdown. He is one of three directors of the new market, alongside Karen Liebreich and Bridget Osborne.
“Markets are brilliant places for people to meet friends and shop in a leisurely way which isn’t really possible in enclosed spaces any more,” says Osborne. “We’re fortunate that the Old Market Place is spacious, with plenty of room for social distancing and set back from the road, but slap bang in the middle of Chiswick.”
The launch is planned for September 6th, with the market open from 9.30am to 3.00pm. Subsequent markets will take place on the first Sunday of every month (4th October, 1st November and 6th December). There are plans for a ‘Plant Creche’ where visitors can leave their purchase while they enjoy a meal or a pint, or while enjoying a browse around local independent shops.
Chiswick Flower Market, Chiswick High Rd. W4 2DW; Sunday 6 September; 9:30am – 3:30pm; Free entry
Chiswick Flower Market opens Sunday 6th September!
Stalls are being carefully selected to provide a range of plants, from bulbs and bedding plants to exotic house plants. The traders range from experienced market traders who have operated at Columbia Rd for years and are excited to be expanding westward, to established Chiswick plant sellers and local start-ups, trying out their business model in a local market before investing in a shop.
There will be a Plant Creche where you can leave your purchases while you enjoy a meal or a pint and wander around Chiswick’s many interesting, independent shops. Muscle bound volunteer cyclists will deliver your plants to your door for free if you live in Chiswick (£5 if you live a bit further afield or if you want other shopping carried home for you as well).
Chiswick Flower Market has been set up by a group of West London residents, the first new open-air market selling just plants and horticultural accessories to be created in London for 150 years. The planned launch date is Sunday 6 September, 09.30 am – 3.00 pm with subsequent markets on the first Sunday of every month: 4th October, 1st November and 6th December in the Old Market Place outside the police station, opposite Waterstones in Chiswick High Rd.
The market will be held in the spot where Chiswick’s first open-air market was set up in 1919 by soldiers returning from the First World War, also looking to create employment during an economic crisis.
“We want it to be the Columbia Road of West London” said Ollie Saunders, whose idea the market is. They hope it will become a focal point which will attract people to Chiswick High Rd and revitalise the local economy.
A group of West London residents are setting up a flower market in Chiswick, which will be the first new open-air market selling just plants and horticultural accessories to be created in London for 150 years. The flower marker will open its doors to the public for the first time on Sunday 6 September.
“We want it to be the Columbia Rd of West London” said Ollie Saunders, whose came up with the idea for the market. The founders – Ollie, Karen and Bridget – hope it will become a focal point which will attract people to Chiswick High Rd and revitalise the local economy.
Ollie, a commercial surveyor, is one of three directors of the new market, along with author Karen Liebreich and journalist Bridget Osborne. Ollie loves flowers and would regularly make the trek to Columbia Rd before the coronavirus outbreak. Karen has a diploma in horticulture and has set up many community projects involving plants as a director of the not for profit organisation Abundance London.
Bridget worked for the BBC for many years and is the editor of local website The Chiswick Calendar. All three are passionate about making the place where they live as good as it can be.
“Markets are brilliant places for people to meet friends and shop in a leisurely way which isn’t really possible in enclosed spaces any more. We’re fortunate that the Old Market Place is spacious, with plenty of room for social distancing and set back from the road, but slap bang in the middle of Chiswick” said Bridget.
The planned launch date is Sunday 6 September, 09.30 am – 3.00 pm with subsequent markets on the first Sunday of every month: 4 October, 1 November and 6 December in the Old Market Place outside the police station, opposite Waterstones in Chiswick High Rd. W4 2DW.
The market will be held in the spot where Chiswick’s first open air market was set up in 1919 by soldiers returning from the First World War, also looking to create employment during an economic crisis.
“We’re talking to traders now” said Karen “They’re very keen to be part of it and we will have a mix of interesting plants so there’s something for everyone”.
The stalls are being carefully selected to provide a range of plants, from bulbs and bedding plants to exotic house plants. The traders range from experienced market traders who have operated at Columbia Rd for years and are excited to be expanding westward, to established Chiswick plant sellers and local start-ups, trying out their business model in a local market before investing in a shop.
There will be a Plant Creche where you can leave your purchases while you enjoy a meal or a pint and wander around Chiswick’s many interesting, independent shops. Muscle bound volunteer cyclists will deliver your plants to your door free, if you live in Chiswick (£5 if you live a bit further afield or if you want other shopping carried home for you as well).
A group of West London residents are setting up a flower market in Chiswick, which will be the first new open-air market selling just plants and horticultural accessories to be created in London for 150 years. “We want it to be the Columbia Rd of West London” said Ollie Saunders, whose idea the market is. They hope it will become a focal point which will attract people to Chiswick High Rd and revitalise the local economy.
Ollie, a commercial surveyor, is one of three directors of the new market, along with author Karen Liebreich and journalist Bridget Osborne. Ollie loves flowers and would regularly make the trek to Columbia Rd before the coronavirus outbreak. Karen has a diploma in horticulture and has set up many community projects involving plants as a director of the not for profit organisation Abundance London.
Bridget worked for the BBC for many years and is the editor of local website The Chiswick Calendar. All three are passionate about making the place where they live as good as it can be.
“Markets are brilliant places for people to meet friends and shop in a leisurely way which isn’t really possible in enclosed spaces any more. We’re fortunate that the Old Market Place is spacious, with plenty of room for social distancing and set back from the road, but slap bang in the middle of Chiswick” said Bridget.
The market was planned before the pandemic. The group help a public meeting in George IV pub in February, where the idea was enthusiastically endorsed by more than 200 local people. It received immediate backing from Leader of LB Hounslow Steve Curran and further support from members of the public who took part in a survey. lnitially the market was planned for May, but when the lockdown made that impossible, a dedicated group of volunteers continued planning the market, working with the council on issues such as licencing and traffic management.
The Chiswick Flower Market group of residents includes an accountant, a surveyor, an event organiser, designers, artists and others who have been giving their time for free to make the market a reality.
The planned launch date is Sunday 6th September, 09.30 am – 3.00 pm with subsequent markets on the first Sunday of every month: 4th October, 1st November and 6th December in the Old Market Place outside the police station, opposite Waterstones in Chiswick High Rd. W4 2DW.
The market will be held in the spot where Chiswick’s first open air market was set up in 1919 by soldiers returning from the First World War, also looking to create employment during an economic crisis.
“We’re talking to traders now” said Karen “They’re very keen to be part of it and we will have a mix of interesting plants so there’s something for everyone”.
The stalls are being carefully selected to provide a range of plants, from bulbs and bedding plants to exotic house plants. The traders range from experienced market traders who have operated at Columbia Rd for years and are excited to be expanding westward, to established Chiswick plant sellers and local start-ups, trying out their business model in a local market before investing in a shop.
There will be a Plant Creche where you can leave your purchases while you enjoy a meal or a pint and wander around Chiswick’s many interesting, independent shops. Muscle bound volunteer cyclists will deliver your plants to your door free, if you live in Chiswick (£5 if you live a bit further afield or if you want other shopping carried home for you as well).
01766 771164 / mail@gardenstovisit.net
A group of West London residents are setting up a flower market in Chiswick, which will be the first new open-air market selling just plants and horticultural accessories to be created in London for 150 years.
The planned launch date is Sunday 6th September, 09.30 am – 3.00 pm with subsequent markets on the first Sunday of every month: 4th October, 1st November and 6th December in the Old Market Place outside the police station, opposite Waterstones in Chiswick High Rd. W4 2DW.
“We want it to be the Columbia Rd of West London” said Ollie Saunders, whose idea the market is.
They hope it will become a focal point which will attract people to Chiswick High Rd and revitalise the local economy.
The stalls are being carefully selected to provide a range of plants, from bulbs and bedding plants to exotic house plants. The traders range from experienced market traders who have operated at Columbia Rd for years and are excited to be expanding westward, to established Chiswick plant sellers and local start-ups, trying out their business model in a local market before investing in a shop.
EVENTS 2020
Here are the events we will be attending in 2020. Get some splendid deals and come and meet us in person! Keep checking frequently, because lots more will be added as the season progresses.
Autumn
Chiswick Flower Market – Sunday Sept 6th, Oct 4th, Nov 1st, Dec 6th
Chiswick High Road 9.30am-3pm
We are pleased to be attending this event as part of its grand opening on September 6th. Chiswick Flower Market is a new event organised by a volunteer-run Community Interest Company to bring back life to the former market. Alongside Gardening for Kids, there will be otherlocal businesses selling plants, flowers and other complementary goods, all with a strong sustainability ethos. We are very excited to visit London with our face-to-face stall for the first time.
The Chiswick Flower Market has been granted a formal licence to go ahead by Hounslow Council. The organisers say it is the first new flower market in London for 150 years and they want it to become the Columbia Road of west London.
A group of local residents will be launching the Flower Market on the first Sunday of each month, starting on 6 September, on the old Market Place on Chiswick High Road, including the area towards Devonshire Road.
The market will run from 9.30 am – 3.00 pm with subsequent markets on 4 October, 1 November and 6 December.
This was the place where Chiswick’s first open air market was set up in 1919 by soldiers returning from the First World War, also looking to create employment during an economic crisis.
It is hoped that the market will help to rejuvenate the High Road, which was already struggling before the pandemic.
“We want it to be the Columbia Road of West London” said Ollie Saunders, who originally had the idea for the market. Ollie is a commercial surveyor, one of three directors of the new Community Interest Company that, with the participation of a team of enthusiastic local residents, is planning the project.
“What better way to create some fun and beauty, and help Chiswick to emerge into a greener new future than by launching this market. Hopefully it will spark lots of other initiatives,” says author Karen Liebreich who runs Abundance London and has set up many community projects in the area based around horticulture and education.
Bridget Osborne, the third director who worked for the BBC for many years and is the editor of The Chiswick Calendar said, “Markets are brilliant places for people to meet friends and shop in a leisurely way which isn’t really possible in enclosed spaces any more. We’re fortunate that the Old Market Place is spacious, with plenty of room for social distancing and set back from the road, but slap bang in the middle of Chiswick.”
London Borough of Hounslow Leader Steve Curran said, “I’m absolutely delighted that the licence has been granted. I look forward to the launch and to buying my first bunch of flowers.”
With the licence formalities now sorted, the team is focussing on selecting traders. Stalls are being carefully chosen to provide a range of plants, from cut flowers and bouquets, to bulbs and bedding plants, exotic house plants, grow your own and interesting herbs. The traders range from experienced market traders who have operated at Columbia Road for years and are excited to be expanding westward, to established Chiswick plant sellers, specialist growers and local start-ups, trying out their business model before investing in a shop.
The team is keen to get the mix right and say there has been a lot of interest.
There will be a Plant Creche where you can leave your purchases while you enjoy a meal or a drink and wander around Chiswick’s many independent shops. Volunteer cyclists will deliver your plants to your door free of charge if you live in Chiswick (and for a small charge if you want other shopping carried home for you as well).
2b Devonshire Road, Chiswick, W4 2HD
Reconfigured & refurbished Shop: 335 sq.ft.
Area: Chiswick
Use: Retail (A1),Retail (A2)
Tenure: To Let
Features
NEWLY REFURBISHED & RECONFIGERED
- ALL Ground floor shop (A1 Use): 335 sq. ft. + WC/washroom
- LED track lighting
- Air- conditioned (not tested)
- POPULAR PARADE
- Convenient loading
- Around the corner from the shortly arriving (Sept. ’20) Chiswick Flower Market
- TO LET – NEW LEASE
- Revised Rent: £27,500 p.a.x.
- Sole Agent: MJFinn Commercial
Location
This is the FIRST SHOP, east side, in Devonshire Road when approached from Chiswick High Road (A315); KFH at the corner. Other surrounding traders include Wild Swans (ladies fashion), Lea & Sandeman, W4 Bathrooms & Heating, Duci ice cream, The Italian Job, Vinoteca and La Trompette (Michelin starred restaurant). Turnham Green TfL (District line) station within 350m. Easy loading. “Pay & Display” parking close by. Devonshire Road is positioned adjacent to the location of The (new) Chiswick Flower Market due to launch on 6 September 2020 with the intention to attract even more customers to this vibrant area of Chiswick.
May 2020
The Chiswick Flower Market, which initially hoped to open in May, now plans its grand launch for Sunday 6th September.
Throughout the month of April a survey was conducted about the proposed market to be held on the old market place, outside the police station. Nearly 400 people responded to the survey; 82% were strongly in favour, with a further 12% somewhat in favour, giving an amazing overall approval rating of 94%.
Most respondents (90%) described themselves as local. Many hoped it would rejuvenate and revitalise the High Road, and help local traders. Many were worried about the current state of the High Road with many closed shops (this anxiety pre-dated the coronavirus crisis) and felt that this offered a cheery way to give the area a real shot in the arm. The fact that it was a community-inspired project was much appreciated, and the idea of flowers was almost universally applauded.
The full results can be seen on the Chiswick Flower Market website but here are some representative comments:
‘A flower market on my doorstep is a dream!’
‘Love the idea of creating a community destination event to revitalise the High Road.’
‘Chiswick needs rejuvenation.’
‘Columbia Road has generated a raft of small businesses and shops in the local area. We really need something like this for Chiswick and will needed it even more as a result of the inevitable recession that will occur as a result of the current crisis.’
‘Chiswick and Chiswickians need cheering up.’
‘Much needed addition to the Chiswick scene and a definite community asset… Excellent use of available space.’
‘Great idea to bring more life, atmosphere and colour to the high road.’
‘This proposal has the potential to bring something beautiful and economically vibrant to our area.’
‘It will bring colour, a point of focus, joy and cheeriness to Chiswick.’
‘Let’s change the vibe in Chiswick on a Sunday.’
‘It will create these shared memories and conversations that bond the community. I can’t wait!’
‘Nothing but enthusiasm!’
‘It’s simply a really positive energy-filled idea.’
The overwhelming majority – 86% (324) – of respondents walked to the High Road, vastly outnumbering those who cycled (13%), drove (18%) or took public transport (19%). In response to the surprisingly few comments about loss of parking, the Flower Market intends to offer free home delivery within 2 miles via cargo bike for market purchases, and the delivery team may be able to carry other shopping for a small charge. 73% intended to visit the market every time, but only 38% currently visit the High Road every Sunday.
Nine people were strongly against the market of whom four feared something that the team say won’t happen (stalls on the pavement, disabled parking spaces blocked, future cycle lane reducing the area or causing danger). The remaining five lived close by and feared congestion on Linden Gardens. The team say this is an issue that requires attention and the council should think about extending parking restrictions to Sundays, something which it is understood they are already considering.
A few expressed their concern that existing flower stalls had not been consulted and worried about the effect on their business. However, they have all been consulted and will be fully involved in the new market, with prime spots reserved for them. The team behind the Chiswick Flower Market hope to bring additional customers to enjoy the offerings of Chiswick’s regular flower traders, who are an integral and much-appreciated part of the High Road offering. Local organisations such as the Chiswick Horticultural and Allotment Society and Chiswick House & Gardens are fully involved in the project, and have been offered stalls. Customers will hopefully be able to buy flowers and seedlings grown within yards of the High Road, as well as exciting and interesting plants from further afield. Several respondents worried about sustainability and the team has said that there will be a strong emphasis and priority given to plastic-free, peat free, grow your own and locally grown products.
Several respondents asked whether food could also be sold. This team has decided to focus on flowers, plants and all things horticultural, but others are welcome to explore similar ventures – street food, vintage and art, for instance, have all been suggested and are being considered by other teams.
There were some queries about clashes with other events or whether Saturday would be preferable, issues which have been considered.
The group also asked what times the market should be open, and as 86% wanted either 9 or 10am; the team’s current thinking is to start at 9:30am, remaining open until 2 or 3pm.
Overall the survey revealed an astonishingly high level of support for the Chiswick Flower Market. The team was much encouraged and is currently enjoying the lockdown by honing the list of traders, poring over the licensing documents and building up the social media profile.
You can follow them on Twitter @ChiswickFlowers or Instagram @chiswickflowermkt, and sign up to their mailing list at chiswickflowermarket.com
April 2020
The launch of the proposed Sunday morning flower market for Chiswick has had to be rescheduled given the current health crisis, but the organisers are hopeful that it can still start later this year, possibly in September.
To that end, they have organised a survey to get public opinion on the market and see what residents would like.
They’d like to know what hours and products people would like to see in the market, and you can let them know here.
Since the survey was launched they have had nearly 100 responses, and it seems there is a great deal of local interest in the project.
The market is to be based in the car-park outside the George IV pub, a site that was formerly the old Chiswick Market.
The vision of the organisers is that it can be the ‘Columbia Road flower market of west London’.
Other initiatives being discussed to revitalise the High Road, include a vintage clothing market, a vegan food market and a tenants & landlords club.
It is hoped that an initiative such as flower-market would attract shoppers and visitors to the High Road which would then have a ‘spin off’ effect for local shops, cafes and restaurants.
February 2020
The proposal to set up a monthly Sunday morning flower market on Chiswick High Road received widespread support at a packed meeting last night (Thursday, February 21st).
The market, to be based in the car-park outside the George IV pub, a site that was formerly the old Chiswick Market, could be up and running by May, if all goes according to plan. The vision was to be the ‘Columbia Road flower market of west London’.
Other initiatives discussed included a vintage clothing market, a vegan food market and a tenants & landlords club.
Several local traders attended the meeting and many spoke of the difficulties of operating in a climate of high rents and rates.
An initiative such as flower-market would attract shoppers and visitors to the High Road which would then have a ‘spin off’ effect for local shops, cafes and restaurants, they hoped.
The meeting was chaired by Andy Murray of the Grove Park Group. The team behind the venture on the stage included Karen Liebreich (Abundance, Turnham Green Piazza), Bridget Osborne (Chiswick Calendar), Ollie Saunders (commercial surveyor), and Ben Bullman, the general manager of the George IV pub.
Leader of Hounslow Council, Steve Curran, was present in the audience, as were several local Chiswick councillors, traders, and residents.
The W4 consortium of social enterprises, businesses and residents also includes surveyor Steve Nutt and landscape gardener Stefano Marinaz. A number of other local residents have also volunteered their expertise.
The meeting was told that the problem of empty shops in the High Road was as bad as it has ever been. The reasons behind why businesses were closing down was complex – the shift in shopping habits to buying online, competition from Westfield, high rents and rates were all important factors.
Karen Liebreich said the flower market would be run as a CIC (Community Interest Company) and there would be a site manager employed to run the market. Income would come from the traders who would pay rental. She was hoping to organise Cargo bike deliveries which would mean people would have their purchases biked to their homes. They would work with Hounslow Council on cleansing and other issues. She said they had been ‘inundated with ideas’ since news of the initiative became known.
Other ideas suggested included a vegan food market, a vintage clothing market to be run inside the George IV, a Christmas Arts & Craft Fair, an Art Centre on the High Road, a Food Bank, a second-hand book market, and pop-up art markets for the empty Lendlease shop fronts. It was generally agreed that that area was depressing with the number of empty shops.
The issue of parking was discussed. Ollie Saunders said they had carried out a survey. The market would probably mean losing 37 spaces, but there would be more people coming into the area. Disabled parking spaces would be relocated. Traders would unload and park their vans on private land- they would not be taking up public parking spaces.
Columbia Road flower market received about 5000 visitors, had 60 stalls, and was surrounded by 20 independent shops. Some traders have over 14k followers on Instagram. It is crowded from early morning, even during bad winter weather. Chiswick has a strong horticultural heritage and the market place in Chiswick is a bigger area than Colombia Rd, which is very narrow and crowded.
Ollie Saunders said research showed that though retail is going through tough times, people still liked experiences that could not be replicated online.
Tube entry/exit figures for Sundays at Turnham Green and Kew Gardens stations showed that Chiswick is losing people to outside the area, as people are going out of Chiswick on weekends, while Kew Gardens is attracting people into the area. He had spoken to traders at Colombia Rd and there was definite interest in a market in Chiswick. An advantage was proximity to the M4 for access to nurseries around the M25.
Ruth Mayorcas said that visitors should be encouraged to stay in Chiswick and visit other areas of interest such as Chiswick House. Markets such as that in Union Street attracted teenagers, and it would be good to have something to appeal to younger people.
Ollie Saunders commented that visitors to Columbia Road flower market also permeated out into Brick Lane and Shoreditch. Ben Bullman said they ran a kids table on Sundays in the pub and they could expand this to attract parents with young children. Karen Liebreich said they could have workshops for children, with seed sewing and crafts, similar to when she was involved with the Kitchen Garden project at Chiswick House.
Another resident suggested volunteer guides could be on hand to give information, similar to when the Olympics was in London.
Another suggestion was that the market be held weekly- it might be difficult for people to remember which date it was on if it was once a month. Karen Liebreich said they would have to start small, and they would do a six month pilot first, but people managed to remember when the car-boot sale was on, which was also held once a month.
A resident from Elliott Road said it was a ‘fantastic idea’ but there needed to be traffic management put in place otherwise there would be chaos.
It was generally agreed that Sundays were difficult as people tended to park all over the place, including bus stops, and there was no enforcement.
Traders from the other end of the High Road, including the owner of the Juice Bar, and a staff member from the Old Packhorse, spoke of how depressing it was to be based at such a dead end of the street. They wondered if the market could be held on Turnham Green. This was not a viable option they were told as the site chosen was the historic marketplace for Chiswick. However hopefully business would be increased as people visiting the market would look for places for food and drink.
The owner of Lizard clothing shop said that Sunday was the only time people could drive and park in Chiswick. If free parking was taken away, a lack of trade would result. The only way Chiswick could flourish was with independent shops.
Jeremy Day of Whitmans Commercial said rents were market-driven. There were opportunities to do better deals if traders would take advice. He was now letting shops in Turnham Green Terrace and CHR with rents 30 lower than two years ago. The proposal for a landlords/tenants consortium could help.
The owner of Crucial Food was concerned that bringing in traders from outside would put locals at a disadvantage. Karen Liebreich said that Wheelers and Pot Pourri were on board for the market. Ollie Saunders said a CIC would mean discounted rates for local traders- those coming into Chiswick from outside would complement the local sellers.
Bridget Osborne said she was setting up a Food and Drinks Award, inspired by the Ealing Restaurants Award. The public would vote in three categories (restaurants,pubs, cafes) and it would be an opportunity to find out about new places in the area. This would also help local businesses.
Anyone who wants to make suggestions on revitalising Chiswick High Road, and in particular the flower market, should email: info@chiswickflowermarket.com
A public meeting will be held tonight (Thursday, 20 February) to discuss initiatives for Chiswick High Road. Ideas so far proposed include a monthly flower-market, and a vintage clothing market.
Other suggestions include a tenants & landlords club, a vegan food market, and ‘shop local’ campaign, but all suggestions are welcome.
The meeting will be at the George IV pub, in the Boston Room, from 7.30pm.
A local consortium has suggested a way to revitalise Chiswick High Road with a Sunday flower market.
The idea for the monthly flower market, and possibly a vintage clothing, and vegan food market, is the brainchild of a group of local residents who want to bring more vibrancy to the High Road.
Having raised the proposal with local flower-shops and garden centres, they say there is definite support for the idea. Horticultural groups have also registered an interest as a place to sell plants.
They believe an ideal site would be the area in front of As Nature Intended, in the car-park, as this used to be where the traditional Chiswick Market was located.
“This could be west London’s answer to Columbia Road flower market,” said Karen Liebreich, one of the group spearheading the plan.
Columbia Road Flower Market is a street market in Bethnal Green, which attracts thousands of visitors. The market, which is held on Sundays only, in a street lined with Victorian shops off Hackney Road, has brought a welcome spin-off in business to local cafes, restaurants and shops.
The W4 consortium of social enterprises, businesses and residents includes commercial surveyor Ollie Saunders, surveyor Steve Nutt and landscape gardener Stefano Marinaz.
An ad hoc committee has now been formed to research the practical aspects of a market, such as parking and deliveries. They will be presenting their ideas and seeking out more suggestions for improving the vitality of the local economy at a special meeting next week (see below for details).
Other ideas being floated include a tenants & landlords club, a vegan food market, and ‘shop local’ campaign, but all suggestions are welcome.
Nigel Morley, Managing Director of As Nature Intended says; “We are an enthusiastic supporter of the regeneration of high streets, and believe the proposal for a flower market outside our shop will enhance not only the customers experience but more importantly, we believe it’s good for the community. This is in my opinion, good news for traders on Chiswick High Road and we will do what we can to support it. We have a shop in East Dulwich and can clearly see an upturn in customers and ultimately sales when the market is trading.”
Other nearby businesses such as the George IV are also very supportive, they say.
The meeting will be on Thursday 20 February at the George IV pub in the Boston Room, from 7.30pm.