Hopes high for Hawick market restart

It is hoped Hawick market, which was badly affected by the recent floods, will start trading again this weekend.

The market, which takes place every Saturday and is operated by Groupe Geraud, was flooded when the River Teviot burst its banks.

Groupe Geraud area manager, Craig Taylor, has revealed that the traders will be able to trade for free at the next market event, which they are hoping will take place tomorrow (Saturday) as normal.

The team at Groupe Geraud is hoping that the local community will once again show their resilience and community spirit by attending the market and supporting the traders.

Mr Taylor and his team have also been working alongside Scottish Borders Council this week to identify any traders who may have been able to relocate to their market in Sunderland city centre.

Running seven days a week, traders from Hawick were offered the opportunity to trade there this week, free of charge. If the Hawick market is not able to go ahead this weekend, then that offer will extend into next week.

Mr Taylor said: “We really want to show solidarity to the town, and to try and help the town get back to some kind of normality.

“Hawick is such a pretty town and we want to see it back up and running as soon as possible. We’ve offered the use of our 4x4 vehicle, as well as staff, to help the clean-up, and with only two weeks until Christmas, we just want to help our traders to get back trading as soon as they’re able.”

Groupe Geraud is the largest operator of local authority markets in Europe, operating around 600 markets and more than 1,300 market days each week, ranging from retail markets, produce markets, cattle markets and fairs of all kinds.