John Papworth on his fruit & veg stall at Chapel Market

TRADERS in Chapel Market think voting will be down this year as Islington Market Trader of the Year nominations go online and roadworks lead to fewer stands and customers.

John Papworth, who has been a fruit and vegetable stallholder since 1973, told the Tribune: “You can only vote online. In the past, it’s been leaflets but a lot of the customers are older people and they can’t use their phone.

“It [the award] is a good thing because it helps the winner out financially in these troubled times. However, they should have kept the leaflets. I think the voting will be down quite a lot this year. I only think the market will last another five years. It’s not bad weather today – where are all the stalls? The last person who won last year packed up a couple of months later.”

Hai Khroubi, a fish and seafood stallholder, said that if he was named market trader of the year “people will see that his produce is of good quality, that there’s a good service for good prices”. When asked why he wanted to be trader of the year, he said: “Who doesn’t want to be market trader of the year?”

Jeff Heller, a women’s clothing stallholder who won the award in 2008, said: “I’ll let other people have their go. They used to give you the leaflets and then you’d hand them out to your customers. It’s not like that anymore. A lot of people aren’t aware of it but whoever wins it deserves to win it as it’s not easy, I tell you. There’s been major roadworks since May and it’s still not finished.”

The competition is open to traders licensed by Islington Council and closes at midnight on November 26. The winners of the categories – “trader of the year” and “street food trader of the year” – will be announced at the council’s event at Chapel Market on Saturday, December 2 and will each receive £250 off their stall rent.

Shoppers can vote by emailing their nomination to lovemarkets@islington.gov.uk with the trader’s name, the market they work in and why they should be the winner.

A council spokesperson said: “In recent years, when we have made several options available for voting in our Market Trader of the Year competition, almost everyone has chosen to submit their nominations digitally. This is why we did not promote voting by post this year.

“We want to make sure that everyone is able to participate so we are happy to receive nominations over the phone – market customers can call us on 020 7527 8279 and leave a message to take part. We will also extend the voting period to allow people to call until 5pm on Monday 27 November.”