Mary Portas £1m cash hope to fund night-time market

A night-time market could be introduced in a Black Country borough if it bags a slice of a £1 million government cash pot being offered through retail guru Mary Portas.

Further details have been unveiled about the Walsall bid to boost trading in the town centre, while other councils in the West Midlands are examining the small print as they await news on their applications.

Wolverhampton, Dudley, West Bromwich and Bearwood are awaiting decisions next month.

A smartphone application, loyalty card and extra training for independent retailers are also among the ideas to help boost Walsall's retail fortunes.

The bid has been drawn up by the Walsall Town Centre team, which says a night-time market – including craft stalls – would offer "something different" and help to boost the out-of-hours economy.

Angela Henderson, who is part of the group and manager of the Saddlers Shopping Centre, said: "A night market would be a new concept for the town.

"It would hopefully be something similar to Birmingham's German Market.

"It would generate interest in the town in terms of giving people something a little bit different and would boost the rest of the night-time economy. We think it would be something young people would enjoy too."

Under the proposed loyalty card scheme, shoppers would be given incentives for visiting the town centre.

Ms Henderson said: "The thing I would most like to see is a loyalty card, because it works for the tenants, the retailers and the customers."

Another plan would see tours take frontline staff into the town to highlight landmarks, services, transport hubs and car parking.

Extra help would also be given to independent retailers to get them to "think outside the box".

It comes after independent figures released earlier this year showed that Walsall has a shop vacancy rate of 29 per cent.