ENTREPRENEURS will be battling it out in York in a bid to be crowned the city's best young trader.

A diverse group of traders who are all under 30 will be setting up their stalls at Shambles Market on Tuesday, June 29, for the York heats of the National Market Traders’ Federation's Young Traders’ Market contest.

Starting from 9am, this one-day event will feature businesses offering products, ranging from carnivorous fly traps to brownies, jewellery and soy wax candles.

Residents and visitors are being invited to go and show their support, and listen to the funk and jazz Cambridge Street Band which will be playing.

The traders will be competing against each other, with judges looking at everything from merchandising and sales skills to communication, pricing and products.

Judges include business owner Ellen Harvey, from Harvey’s Cheese, Emma Rogers, Selby’s market manager, York town crier Ben Fry and Marc Bichtemann, managing director of First Bus York.

The heats are for entrepreneurs, aged 16 to 30, to showcase their businesses and compete for the chance to represent York at the regional competition in Doncaster in July.

First Bus York are also offering the winner a pitch on Shambles Market each week throughout the year to help them continue to develop their business and customer base.

Regional winners will compete at the national Young Trader of the Year 2021 event.

Phil Waines, market operations executive at Make It York, said: “The day will be a great opportunity for young traders to get in front of a new audience and meet other like-minded people, with a chance to even go on to be crowned national champion.

"We have some fantastic young traders taking part with a real mix of different types of businesses, everything from flytraps and sweet snacks to hair clasps.

“The event is a real celebration of the creativity and entrepreneurship of the city’s young business owners and we can’t wait to welcome all the traders to Shambles Market.”