Why don't we have decent markets in the UK?

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I'm in Brussels, and walked through the most amazing market near the station.
Fruit, vegetables, breads, fabric, clothing, hardware. Anything you could possibly want.
I live in Bristol, and there's certainly nothing like it here.
Are there decent markets in the UK, or do we prefer getting stuff from supermarkets?

Leeds market is pretty good. Great fresh produce, bakeries, community hub, events space, street food stalls, nice atmosphere and good local history bits, eg M&S first originated from Michael Marks penny bazaar market stall.

I have a feeling that countries with lovely food markets probably have a decent proportion of customers who decide what they will cook once they have seen what is good at the market.

We tend to plan meals in advance and want to know we can almost certainly get the ingredients.

Shrewsbury's indoor market wins awards most years. Ludlow has a general market at least 4 times a week and a local producers market, antique and books days. I often pick up fruit,veg and cheeses when the general market is on.

My local market is great, tons of really good fruit and veg, specialist stalls for Indian,Thai, Middle Eastern, African stuff, fishmonger, butchers, food trucks, fabric, household stuff. It could do with a bakery and a flower shop. I went this morning and got a green swirly lidded bucket, some massive bunches of fresh herbs for a quid each and a box of mangoes.

Some people do in Italy, but they have big supermarkets too and plenty of people (younger people) prefer shopping there. I just think shopping at markets is a way of life that's declining - it may already have gone in much of the UK, but it's on the way out in other places too. A close friend of mine lives in Brussels and I can tell you she shops in a supermarket not whatever lovely market OP has spotted. She works full-time and has a young child.

We have a lovely regular market once a week - fruit & veg, fishmonger, butcher, plants, coffees & teas, jewelry etc, and then a farmers market once a week - home made breads, cakes, ciders, beers, fruit juices, honey, jams, pickles, meat, cheeses.

No hardware or clothes though. We have two hardware shops in the town centre, a chain and an independent, and high street clothes are cheap so I doubt a stall would be profitable.

Our markets are back because the fish and cheese counters have gone from our supermarkets. Instead they offer a few sad-looking pre-packed items that are anything but fresh. No choice. The bread counter in Tesco is pretty awful too, so they've created a space for independents to offer better quality & choice.

I shop at East Street market in London and it’s not as good as it used to be. The fresh fruit, veg, fish seems to have been replaced by tat, as previously mentioned. There used to be a veg stall where the man brought seasonal stuff up from Kent, a woman who sold cheese, eggs and cream. I used to go to Midi market (that the OP mentioned) in Brussels, and would be able to shop for the week - different cheeses, meat, fruit and veg, Arab bread and delicacies such as home made hummous and merguez sausages. And, as in France, you can ask for a melon to eat tomorrow, a Camembert for Saturday, and you would get the perfect product.

Because Government policy has got rid of most small farmers. Unfortunately food is now mainly grown by huge corporations who are in contracts with the supermarkets. Small farmers markets are great, but they tend to be too expensive for the average food buyer.

St Albans has a fabulous market 2-3 times a week.

I came to mention Leeds market. A real mix of things from nuts to loose leaf tea to fabric and toys. Some great food vendors too in the food hall area.

My local market is quite good, it does get bigger in summer with more stalls for the tourists. I also quite like Winchester’s one. But some markets do just seem to sell the same stuff.
And I’ve just started to wonder if some of the amazing veg you seem to see in France have had a lot of chemicals used.

We did….that ended pretty much end of the 90s, or at least here in London when from people I know, prices to have a stall shot through the roof and it was harder to trade. There are a few markets still in London, but they are absolute rubbish!

Probably because nearly every stall is for really expensive bakery goods such as cookies for £3.50 each or poor quality tat. Also they only seem to open when you cannot get to them, such as Monday morning when you are at work.

If we wanted a thriving market culture, we could have one - obviously shoppers would need to use them regularly. I think that making them more accessible and convenient would help. Changes would have a cost, so there would need to be demand.

Councils could offer to refund some parking if shoppers spend a minimum amount at the market. Opening times need to fit with when people are available to use them.

Great markets often have food at their heart - selling ingredients such as fruit and veg, meat, fish, bakery, dry goods, deli items, not just coffee and takeaway stalls.

Compared to cultures that have thriving fresh produce markets, the UK is generally not so flexible with what food we buy. For a lot of us, the cost of living means tight budgets and a feeling that we cannot afford to make purchasing mistakes. Buying something in a paper bag, feels like a risk compared to a supermarket plastic pack with cooking instructions and a use by date stamp.

A lot of people in the UK meal plan too, not always, but sometimes because they don’t have the confidence, cooking skills, or a well stocked pantry. They are not able to create meals around what is in season or whatever is a bargain that day.

All of this is fixable potentially, but is this a priority for many people?

In 2000 I used to do my fruit and veg shop on a Saturday morning at borough market. Was great, better than the supermarkets for choice. Plus some fresh bread and meat from the butchers stall and it did me for the week. Great quality and excellent price.

now it’s just a huge tourist trap. You can still describe it as a market, but it’s artisan this and organic that for £££££££. As a local I avoid it like the plague. So many people there’s no way you can nip in for a loaf and a pack of grapes.

i think this is the issue. There’s no place for traditional markets. It’s either stalls of cheap tat, or it’s strawberries and chocolate sauce for £20.

Norwich has a great market.

Big one in my town. Coach trips etc. some people are sniffly about them. Poor people, loose produce etc. Meat and fish market here and it's rammed. Many people are conditioned to go to supermarkets where it's convenient to park (sometimes) and everything you think you need is there.@SumUp is right

I love markets. Even when I travel I look for them. I love the buzz and variety.
There're less and less markets in the UK these days. Everything is so regulated, so much paper work only big corporates stand a chance. Market sellers who still thrive tend to do cash only for small items and make a good profit.

Born and bred Londoner and in the 60s - 80s, some brilliant markets in London - East Street I was a Saturday girl at a shop on the market late 70s and it was vibrant and very busy), Roman Road, Petticoat Lane, Leather Lane, Strutton Ground, The Cut, Caledonian Road.... then the tat moved in, supermarkets taking over, nature of work changed and people lived further from their workplaces, so lunchtime markets struggled. Now live in NE Hampshire and I'd say Salisbury manages to have good food, other traders, a decent market, not large though, but most others simply flogging tat from a few random stalls.

That’s interesting. I don’t know Borough market but it is the same where I live.

I wonder if it is to do with volume of sales. In my youth, my uncle had a city fruit and veg stall, and when we visited him there, there was a constant stream of customers. He would sell a lorry load of produce in a day and each evening he would come home exhausted. They were really long working days, ultra early starts to restock the lorry. Physical hard work.

But he made a reasonable living and a good percentage of the city had affordable fruit and veg. Way cheaper than supermarket produce. I bet the artisan stalls of today sell barely 1/10th of the amount.

Our three nearest "big" towns or cities had brilliant markets.

Until, their local councils sold off the land for development of shopping malls and moved the markets into remote locations without much footfall and all three eventually closed down due to lack of custom, and their land redeveloped!

Councils just don't like them! They can make more money from selling the land they're on!

Also I don’t know what the traders pay for a pitch today. Pitches used to be cheap but really hard to come by. I suspect this overhead is a lot more today.

Because the weather is crap. People don’t want to walk around markets in the cold and rain, they want to sit at home and have everything delivered.

Also, people work more hours in the UK than most other European countries. People don’t have the time to go pottering around the market.

Sadly this is true too. I do not know what business rates markets have to pay, but in any case, most of these taxes do not stay in the local area.

Because people might like a market to mooch around on a nice sunny day when they're in the right mood, but for proper regular food shopping for a whole family, markets would be expensive, inconvenient and lacking in choice.