Leaving the Jingle Market: How Brexit could threaten Britain's Christmas fairs

Christmas, like Brexit, is on its way. That means across the UK, city centres will become temporary homes to festive miniature boroughs selling bratwurst, mulled wine in ceramic boots and endless yuletide brik-a-brak. The Christmas—or German—market has in the last few years become a staple of the Great British festive season. But how will leaving the European Union effect these continental celebrations—and what does that tell us about trade post-Brexit?

To understand any effect, we have to look at how such markets are organised. Each council work slightly differently—but there are three main methods for how they go about this.

The first is the event is organised in-house by a dedicated team with vendors applying for places at the event. The second method is that a private business provides the market on the council’s behalf (via a bespoke service and/or vendor applications) and the third is a similar system overseen by a partnered European council—hence “German Markets.”

Manchester is the northern powerhouse of Christmas markets. The oldest and largest in the UK and voted one of the best in Europe, it is built in-house. Dale Maybury, Head of Specialist and City Centre Markets for Manchester City Council spoke to Prospect about the change in vendors at their event. “We’re a Christmas Market rather than a ‘German’ market,” he said.

“We have had a lot of European traders in the past but that’s changed. The focus has shifted to local traders. Roughly, about 75 per cent of our vendors are from inside the UK and 80 per cent of those are from within 40 miles of Manchester.”

Maybury explains Manchester receives far more applications than it can grant. It has over 300 stalls (“only 59 non-UK traders. Mainly from Europe but there are a couple from Africa and one from India”) and any revenue generated goes back into Manchester city.

Luckily, Brexit is unlikely to affect markets organised in this manner and may even benefit UK trade. According to one report from the Local Government Association (LGA), Christmas markets generated around £500 million in 2017.

There are reasonable questions to be asked about the increased cost of supplies and restricted trade and travel affecting UK vendors but the reports notes “the impact of Brexit is unknown, but early fears about a negative impact do not seem to have been realised in 2017 trading.”

So there is the potential for UK traders to capitalise on any potential loss of European vendors—a realisation of a Leave campaign hope—but, the report claims, “authenticity” can be a key factor in the appeal and success of markets, particularly those just starting out. In short, the appeal of genuine European products wins customers over.

Maybury pointed out Manchester, likely safe because of its reputation, has already moved away from the large German-style beer halls to more boutique retailers. Lynsay Redwood of Bath Christmas markets, meanwhile, said they receive very few applications from European vendors, adding: “We pride ourselves in showcasing the highest quality products that are either handmade by a producer or products made in the UK. We like to think of ourselves as a ‘British Christmas Market’.

But what about those relying on European partnerships? Frankfurt council works in works with a number of cities to run events such as Birmingham’s creatively-named Frankfurt Christmas Market and Leeds’ Christkindlmarkt. In these cases, the cities provide infrastructure while Frankfurt provides the vendors.

Prospect asked Kurt Stroscher, Director of Tourism for Frankfurt and man in charge of exporting Christmas Markets, about Brexit’s impact on European markets. “Yes, the mitigation actions that we have put in place in preparation for Brexit have led to additional costs,” he says.

“Bringing in all the infrastructure ahead of the October 31^st deadline, for example, has led to increased ferry and transportation costs, as services are at a premium with many businesses trying to do the same thing.”

This year, Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas market opened earlier—mainly to bring it in line with the openings of other markets around the country, though reducing time and money spent storing and setting up infrastructure may also play a role.

It’s still unclear how the Brexit impact on European tourism will affect visitor numbers to festive attractions in the UK. Certainly, the increased hostility towards Europeans already seen at this year’s market in Leeds will generate some apprehensions going forward.

Despite this expense, Stroscher is confident Europe will still play a part in British Christmases. “Our vendors have not expressed any reluctance at coming to the UK to us, however, there is a sense of sadness at the UK’s impending departure from EU.”

He added, “The future of the Frankfurt market in Birmingham is positive, with or without Brexit, as we will rise to and resolve any challenges that Brexit brings.”

Seasonal markets are just one of the many cottage, or chalet, industries facing a change post-Brexit. For now, these changes brand adjustments on behalf of Brits and increase trading costs for Europe but it seems the Christmas Market, German or otherwise, is likely to survive whether or not Brexit is naughty or nice.