Historic London Market Finds ‘Flash’ Winners

Spitalfields, London, UK – 29th October 2010 - Following a recent competition held by Old Spitalfields Market to reintroduce the ancient arts of ‘Flash’ and ‘Banter’ at its site near Liverpool Street station, the public votes have now been counted and two winning traders have been awarded cash prizes. ‘Banter’ - essentially a market trader’s light-hearted (and often slightly cheeky) verbal interaction with customers, and ‘Flash’ - the visual presentation of the market stall are both ways in which a trader can make themselves stand out from their fellow stallholders and other local competing retailers. Each trader uploaded a video of themselves onto the competition website in order to showcase their skills. The winners, Darren Charman from Balham and his partner, Karolina Livsicaite, with their business ‘The Funky Fingers’ were presented with the top prize of £750 by Andrew Sparrow, Old Spitalfields Market’s commercial operations manager. Upon receiving his prize, Darren Charman commented: “As soon as I heard about this competition I jumped at the chance to enter, as I could see that it would be not only great fun, but it would help fly the flag for the market as well.” “Our products are unique and this competition has really helped boost our profile and hopefully introduced market shopping to many more people.” The Funky Fingers specialises in decoupage shoes, bangles, rings, bags and purses – plus an assortment of jewellery and other items. They call their unique style ‘re-funking’ and many of their products cleverly recycle items that would otherwise be thrown away. Gaby Leon, proprietor of ‘Gaby’s Hot Stuff’, a business selling a fiery range of chilli sauces - and a winner at the 2009 National Chilli Awards - won the £250 runners-up prize. Gaby said: “I have a passion for chillies and started making hot sauces during my childhood. Trading at Old Spitalfields Market has proven to be the perfect place for me to grow my business and continue to build the reputation for my legendary ‘hot stuff’.” Andrew Sparrow, Old Spitalfields Market’s commercial operations manager, added: “There’s so much competition on the high street, let alone inside the market hall, that market traders now need to up their game and take a much more proactive approach in attracting new customers.” “This Flash and Banter competition has undoubtedly helped traders do this and we’ve been able to reintroduce ancient skills that will have first been seen in the East End many hundreds of years ago. “The origins of the word ‘flash’ came from 18th Century London, when the market traders, or costermongers as they were known, started sewing a ‘flash’ of pearls onto their suits to attract the attention of customers. This is where the term flash came from and it has been adopted by the industry to refer to a market stall’s presentation.” “This competition has been great fun and I’d just like to thank everyone that took part –the traders and shoppers for taking the time to vote.” Visit http://www.oldspitalfieldsmarket.com for further information. ENDS (Pictures - please see the link at the foot of this message)

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