Mary Portas comes to Loughborough Town

Mary Portas came to town last Thursday. She swept through the market surrounded by a flock of well polished local dignitaries and media folk. Ignored me completely. I was ready to voice my opinions to her but did not get a chance to. I did however glimpse her talking to the woman who sells school clothes. I was impressed by her bright flame orange hair from which, as I said to my Facebook chums, a strange power seemed to emanate. What was it? Celebrity seems to create a kind of magnetosphere around those that possess it. Everyone around her orientated themselves to her as though they were  an iron filling caught in the power of a  magnetic pole. I found I wasn't immune. I was craning my head in Her direction. I've got to confess that I wanted to be part of the action.

I had to make do with the secondary excitement of being interviewed by East Midlands Today.Asked about what I thought would improve trade in town centres, I said that cheaper parking was needed. I wanted to go on to say more but was not given the opportunity. 

On Saturday lots of people said to me 'Saw you on telly!' They seemed rather excited about seeing someone they knew on TV. It was as though a tiny sparkle of the magic of 'Celebrity' had settled on my shoulder for the day.  I didn't watch my ten second appearance myself. That would have been too disturbing. Was my hat on straight? Was there a crust of dry soup visible on my moustache? Did I display some kind of speech impediment of which I was previously unaware?

It's good to see some kind of work being done to save our markets and town centres. Some Councils, such as Cambridge, are doing little to support their markets but Loughborough seems to be interested in improving trade. I'm impressed by the two market supervisors on Loughborough Market, Jean and Mister Bird. They are both genuinely  concerned about traders and about the future of the market. It's sad, but such positive attitudes are not common in the field of market management.

Phil