Market operator is set for a fresh look

Wellington Market Company, the UK's only publicly-listed operator of markets with its listing on the ISDX exchange in the capital, is to change its name to WMC Retail Partners Plc.

Tracing its origins to the granting of a Royal Charter for a market on the site of its headquarters in Wellington in 1244, the company has developed its reputation on the operation of traditional indoor and outdoor markets, and has been forced to look for new ways of generating custom since the rise in supermarkets from the 1970s.

Among its recent contracts it has transformed the Old Spitalfields Market in east London, and is now set to take over control of Shepherd's Bush Market as part of a £150 million investment being made in the West London site by its new owner, Orion Shepherd's Bush Ltd.

The company, which has it's head office in Market Street, Wellington, is announcing its rebranding to the market this morning, when it is also due to release its half-year results.

Chief executive Malcolm Ball said: "As the retail sector has evolved, we've had to diversify into other activities – such as retail asset management and consultancy and it became apparent that our former name did not reflect the aims and direction of the company and was becoming somewhat constraining.

"Although we're still successfully running traditional market sites via our wholly-owned subsidiary Town and Country Markets Ltd, our diversified activities are moving to the fore and the new name of WMC Retail Partners Plc better represents our business as we continue into the 21st century."

He added: "Markets still have a key role to play in the UK's retail sector and offer something that just cannot be replicated in superstores. A contemporary, successful market should be at the heart of a community and offer much more than a mere retail transaction – such as hosting events, themed markets and community engagement initiatives that create a vibrancy just not found anywhere else on the high street.

"Our work in animating retail space with these types of activities has proved to be very popular, particularly with developers looking at breathing new life into tired retail sites and adding interest to new retail developments and shopping centres."

Wellington Market Company has also been appointed by Watford Borough Council to oversee the creation of a new traders' market for the town, following the redevelopment of the market's current home – the Intu-owned Charter Place Shopping Centre.

Under a ten-year contract, the new market is being constructed in a central area beside the town's former TJ Hughes store. It uses 47 specially-adapted shipping containers that will provide a perfect retail space for the traders. While the company's latest financial results, for the last six months, are not released until this morning, the company's results for the last full-year showed a fall in turnover from £6.9 million to £6.2 million as it closed unprofitable markets and sold off some of its sites.

That helped it swing from a £51,000 loss in 2012 to a profit of £248,000 in 2013, and the company will hope for more progress in the early part of 2014.