Member Article

Virtual Christmas market launches to help Merseyside independents

Liverpool marketing agency, Mayfly, has teamed up with design agency, Brand & Glory, to develop a charitable trading platform, called YAMAket, which will provide additional trading support for independent businesses in Merseyside the run up to the festive period.

Boutique, artisan and independent craft businesses such as Handyman Brewery, Sophie’s Emporium, Pinhead and Little Light Stitchery, would usually take advantage of the city’s bustling Christmas markets in Sefton Park’s Palm House, Liverpool Cathedral and St George’s Hall, but the pandemic and a second lockdown putting a stop to these popular festive shopping events, is another devastating blow.

YAMAket gives business owners a ‘shop window’ in the form of a profile page on the website, where they can showcase an unlimited number of products for sale in return for a small commission (12%), with 2% being donated to local charities including homeless and housing charity, The Whitechapel Centre; YAPS, the mental wellbeing charity and KIND, the organisation supporting disadvantaged children.

The site will be launched to consumers later this month as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for buying local Christmas gifts.

More than twenty businesses have already signed up to trade on YAMAket, including Joy Twenty Six, Medusa Piercing, Beers of Anfield Road, Handyman Brewery and Root Houseplants.

Liam Patton, founder and director at Mayfly says: “We’re proud to have been trading as an independent business in Liverpool ourselves for over 12 years, with many of our clients being based in the city too. Liverpool is a city that pulls together and helps each other out and this is our way of showing support for other small local businesses during this pretty challenging year.”

Chris Needham, co-founder, Root Houseplants, says: “For so many small independent companies this is a make or break year. YAMAket is a brilliant idea to help drive sales during what would usually be one of our busiest times of the year – it’s another great example of how Liverpool will manage to thrive in even the most unprecedented of times.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Agatha Chapman-Poole .