Seven tower blocks stand proud and tall over Rochdale. Minutes away from the town centre, the 'Seven Sisters' were a feat of engineering when completed in the 1960s.
25.09.2022 - 10:15 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
As a boy, Anton Jaskiewicz dreamed of working for himself. Friends and teachers mocked his ambitions but he didn't care.
On finishing school, the enterprising teenager set up his own market stall. More than four decades on, Anton remains a familiar face around Tommyfield Market in Oldham, where he runs The Battery Shop.
In a lifetime working on markets, he has seen plenty - although it hasn't all been plain sailing. In recent months, dwindling footfall has seen the 61-year-old slip behind on his rent payments to Oldham Council, which runs the market.
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Anton has raised his prices to try and come up with the money he owes, but it has made little difference. "I've been trying to pay," he explained.
"I'm not being awkward. There's just no footfall anymore. This is all I have ever done since I left school. It's the only thing I ever wanted to do."
Anton's current rent bill stands at £750 per month - a sum he had no trouble mustering up back in the market's heyday. His financial position has become so perilous that he recently considered shutting his stall for good.
"The past two or three years, it's been hard to make a living," he explained. "The rent before was even dearer than now but it was busy then."
Anton is not alone in his struggle to stay afloat as soaring costs, changing shopping habits and the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic create the perfect storm of challenges for market traders.
The cost of living crisis has also forced customers to cut back, making it even tougher for stallholders to balance the books. The pressure has already proved too much for some, who have decided to leave Tommyfield
Seven tower blocks stand proud and tall over Rochdale. Minutes away from the town centre, the 'Seven Sisters' were a feat of engineering when completed in the 1960s.
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