Project location & overview:
The 6 Day Market Place project involved the multi-million-pound redevelopment of Great Yarmouth’s marketplace, which is a permanent 6-day market with stalls selling a range of products, including food, flowers and more.
As part of Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s wider work on regenerating the town centre, the project aimed to improve the market’s functionality and brighten the area, whilst remaining sensitive to the location’s heritage.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council appointed Greyfriars Project Management to assist with the delivery of phases two and three of the scheme.
Key Facts:
Client: Great Yarmouth Borough Council
Staff lead: Tom Warnes
Location: Great Yarmouth
Sector: Local Authority
Project length: May 2022 - September 2023
Project cost: £4.7 million
Project value: Improving functionality and brightening the area, whilst remaining sensitive to the location’s heritage
Understanding the project and its aims
The project involved the delivery of a new timber-framed canopy structure to house improved facilities and trader units.
The works aimed to make the unique, centrally-placed marketplace more inviting to customers and traders, welcoming both existing and new traders to the area. Also, it was designed to complement and respect its existing historic setting.
Great Yarmouth has been a market town since the early 11th century, so being sensitive to the location’s extensive history throughout the project was vital.
The project benefitted from funding within the UK government’s £675 million Future High Streets Fund. The money was intended to renew and reshape UK town centres and high streets for the purpose of improving growth, experience and sustainability.
Providing project management services
Greyfriars Project Management were appointed by Great Yarmouth Borough Council to deliver phases two and three of the project.
Services provided include:
- Programme management
- Construction procurement
- Budgetary controls
- Contract administration
- Risk management
- Coordination and management of utility providers, including major diversion works of existing high voltage cable infrastructure
Delivered on time and on budget
The project was successfully completed in September 2023 – delivered on time and on budget.
Our director, Jon, said:
“The transformation of the area is incredible! It was certainly logistically challenging to work in a live marketplace, but we’re thrilled to have overcome those challenges and successfully delivered the project in-line with the client’s vision.”
The new building is a striking timber-framed, high roofed, larch clad canopy structure, containing 29 full-size market units for permanent traders, as well as three smaller pop-up kiosks for new or seasonal vendors.
Since project completion, the marketplace has welcomed both new and existing traders and continued offering customers a wide range of food, produce, crafts, clothing and more.
Working on a logistically demanding project
As the project took place within a live marketplace with existing and new businesses beginning to operate from the completion of Phase 1, working on the site was logistically demanding.
The site compound and welfare were separated by the newly constructed Phase 1, leading to challenges with deliveries and access – particularly as there were delivery restriction times within the marketplace, with consideration given to existing chip stalls and the 2 Day Market at the southern end of the scheme.
In addition, there were logistical challenges with services, including the temporary supply of gas to the chip stalls to enable the removal of the original gas supply and demolition of the old toilet block, as well as a mains HV cable which needed to be diverted.
This was a particularly challenging piece of work, requiring close liaison with UK Power Network. Our team expertly managed the challenges and collaborated with a number of businesses, ensuring the work was delivered successfully and in a timely manner so the overall scheme programme was maintained.
Following this, further utilities services were uncovered which were again carefully and quickly dealt with to ensure they were safely removed and delay was mitigated.
Collaborating with the local supply chain
As the 6 Day Market Place was a complex project with many moving parts, we collaborated with a number of businesses, stakeholders and statutory bodies to ensure the works were successfully delivered, including:
- Pentaco Construction – main contractor
- Chaplin Farrant
- Daniel Connal Partnership
- Clancy Consulting
- ALH Building Services Design Ltd
- Clear Consulting Design Ltd
- Roy Sykes Consulting
- Town Centre Partnership
- Norfolk Constabulary (Safe By Design)
- Building Control
- Norfolk Highways
- UK Power Networks
- Cadent
- Archaeologists
- Great Yarmouth market traders and businesses
Here at Greyfriars, we use the local supply chain wherever possible, so it was excellent to work with so many brilliant Norfolk-based businesses on the 6 Day Market Place project.
Joined-up thinking to deliver the best results
A key element of working on the 6 Day Market Place project was joined-up thinking to facilitate the successful delivery of another project.
Greyfriars have also been appointed by Great Yarmouth Borough Council to lead the client-side project management of the Great Yarmouth Market Place Public Realm project.
This £4.3m project involves redeveloping the public realm around the marketplace with landscaping to complement the historic setting and make the space more inviting.
The same team are now working on the Public Realm project, with key decisions in the 6 Day Market Place having improved the Public Realm project.
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