Garden to Jar, Silver Hollow Jewellery and Brownie Alchemy reach the NMTF national final in Stratford-upon-Avon on 28 and 29 August. All three trade in Horsham.

Three young traders from the Horsham district are at the National Market Traders Federation’s national final in Stratford-upon-Avon on Friday and Saturday, after coming through regional finals in Suffolk and south-east London (Horsham District Council).

The competition is for market traders aged 16 to 30. All three qualified through Horsham’s own local heat, now in its fourth year.

The traders and their results:

Trader Result Regional final
Garden to Jar Winner, Grocery East of England, Bury St Edmunds
Silver Hollow Jewellery Highly Commended, Arts & Crafts London & South East, Greenwich
Brownie Alchemy Highly Commended, Grocery London & South East, Greenwich

Garden to Jar is a small Horsham business making chutneys, jams and other preserves, run by Sarah Griffin. It won the Grocery category at the East of England regional final in Bury St Edmunds on Wednesday 29 July. That final picked an overall winner plus winners in four categories (West Suffolk Council).

Silver Hollow Jewellery, run by Dan, handcrafts nature-inspired jewellery and is a regular at Horsham’s Carfax market. Brownie Alchemy, run by Prakash, is a bakery making gluten-free brownies. Both were Highly Commended at the London and South East regional final. That was held at Cutty Sark Gardens in Greenwich on Saturday 18 July, with around 75 young traders running stalls and the judges’ results announced at 4pm (Greenwich Market).

Garden to Jar and Silver Hollow Jewellery have both won Horsham’s local heat in previous years.

How the local heat works

Horsham’s heat ran on Sunday 28 June at the West Street Entrepreneurs Market, run by market operator Coden Events with the council’s support. Entrants had to be aged 16 to 30 as of 27 August (Coden Events).

The competition runs across eleven UK regions, feeding local heats into regional finals and then into the national final. Last year more than 1,000 applicants traded at over 70 local events, and 94 reached the final in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Jonathan Taylor, the council’s Cabinet Member for Enterprise and Property, said: “Their success at both our local heat and the regional finals highlights the exceptional young talent we have locally. Our markets provide an important platform for new and young businesses to showcase their products, speak directly with customers and grow.”

What it means for you

You do not have to wait for the result to buy from them. Horsham has four regular markets. The council publishes when each one runs (Horsham District Council, District Markets):

  • Carfax Local Market, every Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the Carfax. Street food, local produce and artisan stalls. Garden to Jar and Silver Hollow Jewellery both trade here.
  • West Street Entrepreneurs Market, every Saturday on West Street, where the local heat was held.
  • West Street Arts and Crafts Market, the last Sunday of every month on West Street.
  • Piries Place Vegan Market, the last Saturday of every month except December.

Villages across the district have their own:

  • Billingshurst Artisan Market, third Sunday of the month, Six Bells car park
  • Henfield Weekly Market, every Monday at Henfield Hall
  • Pulborough Village Market, fourth Saturday of the month, Pulborough Village Hall
  • Steyning Farmers Market, first Saturday of the month, High Street car park
  • Storrington Community Market, every Friday, Storrington Village Hall

The next big one in Horsham is The Big Nibble, a food and drink market with a live cookery theatre, on Sunday 6 September from 10am to 4pm.

If you are driving in for a market day, our guide to parking in Horsham covers the town centre car parks and what they cost.