Made in Malton aims to attract new business to the area - Yorkshire Life Article

Article written by Felicity Macnamara, Deputy Editor, Yorkshire Life

‘A place in this new chapter for everyone.’

That’s the message at the heart of a landmark programme designed to celebrate all Malton has to offer.

Over the years, food has played a central part in the town’s journey, so much so that it has been widely celebrated as the ‘food capital’ of Yorkshire – a badge Malton has worn with pride and one that has drawn local and national recognition.

But the next part of the town’s story isn’t just about food. Visit Malton’s Made in Malton banner aims to champion creators, makers and entrepreneurs across all trades and attract new business to the area.

It’s underpinned by the desire to build civic pride, a stronger year-round appeal and strengthen the town’s long-term success.

Rebecca Wilkin, director of Visit Malton and head of the Fitzwilliam Malton Estate, which runs Visit Malton, tells Yorkshire Life: ‘Yorkshire’s food capital has been brilliant because it has brought us a lot of businesses in, and they’re not necessarily food businesses.

‘So, we’re moving on to celebrate everything that’s in town. We’ve completed a successful chapter, where did we go from there?

‘This is the direction, and it’s Made in Malton, which encompasses everything.’

She adds: ‘You have to move forward, we can’t stand still and keep repeating. We have to grow.

‘Our commitment to the community is to make Malton even easier to discover, build up year-round footfall, and further increase dwell time and spend, which will all strengthen the town’s long-term prosperity and ability to thrive.’

Local businesses are excited about this new campaign.

Liz Kemp is the owner of Kemps in Malton, selling books and gifts. ‘Kemps was created in Malton, for Malton, and the community has been at the heart of everything we’ve done from day one. That’s why the Made in Malton campaign resonates so strongly with us. It celebrates the creativity, talent and independent spirit that make this town unique, while helping attract more visitors and support the local businesses that contribute so much to Malton’s success.’

Piers Edsall, of Environmental-Art adds: ‘As a local trader I think the Made in Malton initiative is a great step in the right direction to recognising the depth and diversity of talent we have in our community, not just recognising the wonderful local food producers but the people and small businesses making physical things and upholding traditional arts and crafts and bucking the mass-produced and imported trends.’

Whilst Visit Malton has shifted from putting on large-scale events, Rebecca says previous success means there have been ‘a lot of enquiries from other operators, professional event operators, wanting to host events on our land, which is fabulous’.

‘We get the best of both worlds – we’ve got a calendar of events that still takes place, and we can focus on this and delivering what our businesses want. ‘We’ve got somebody lined up for next year with a booking who will be fantastic, and they can do in the blink of an eye what would take us months to achieve.’

As part of Made in Malton, the spotlight is being shone on different businesses through ‘Meet the Maker’ to showcase the diversity of what people can find in the town. ‘People will see everything that’s going on, they will be able to know there’s a new business open, so they’ll be able to visit and experience it for themselves,’ says Rebecca.

Clara Challoner Walker, CEO and founder of Cosy Cottage Soap, says: ‘For over seven years, Cosy Cottage have proudly grown our natural personal and homecare business here in Malton, growing from a small venture into a company that now develops, manufactures, distributes and retails from the town. We are especially proud to have established our flagship Cosy Cottage brand store on Malton’s historic Market Place, at the centre of this vibrant and supportive independent business community.

‘During our time in Malton, we have been delighted to see the town evolve from being known as a centre of excellence for food and drink into a flourishing hub for making and creating in all its forms, now embracing artists, musicians, crafters, manufacturers, makers and sellers alike. We are delighted to see this local creative spirit recognised so constructively through the new Malton Makers brand and feel enormously excited for the future of the town, as a destination that will attract more talented makers and visitors keen to discover, participate in and shop from Malton’s wonderful independent businesses.’

In tandem with the new campaign, the Fitzwilliam Malton Estate will share more about its work in the town, and Rebecca is keen to have an open dialogue with businesses.

‘We need to have more conversations, we need people to know they can come and ask questions, and we’ll answer them, and that’s one strand of what we’ll do more of,’ she says.

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Growth stories will be put in the spotlight to highlight the opportunities within Malton.