The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Tin Ferl pop-up market has already "christened" what its co-founder yesterday described as an "amazing location" for small businesses via the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC).

Brandon Kemp said the SBDC's new business incubator, which will be located at the old Phil's Food Service building on Gladstone Road, will provide the "ideal" platform for the market's vendors who have already relocated from their original site in the grounds of the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts.

Mr Kemp said that while the SBDC has not officially moved into that location yet, Tin Ferl and its vendors are their first tenants. "It’s an amazing location, and it’s pretty central with Carmichael on one side and also very close to the western district," he added.

"To be able to work with the SBDC, and be able to have that close relationship with them; this location is ideal for a community of small businesses.”

Senator Kwasi Thompson, minister of state for finance, said earlier this week that the SBDC will be moving to the former Phil’s Food Services building on Gladstone Road, where it will open up store fronts and office space for some of its micro, small and medium-sized (MSME) business incubator clients.

Last weekend marked Tin Ferl’s opening at the new location. Mr Kemp said it went “really well” as he ended up “filling out the whole parking lot”, despite having what he described as a “soft opening” with a limited amount of vendors. He added: “The community has supported us tremendously, and the vendors have been supporting us at this new location. We saw a lot of old faces and new faces.”

Mr Kemp said the licensing issues that Tin Ferl and its vendors encountered with the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Department of Inland Revenue at their previous Dundas location, where they were told they needed a 30-day licence to run a pop-up market, have been “taken care of”.

He added: “The matter got taken care of almost right away. It wasn’t an issue with our licences in the end. In all honesty it was an issue from their side. So once they did another check through all of our documents, they clarified what the issue was and it wasn’t an issue to begin with.”

Mr Kemp said the partnership with the SBDC will help to mitigate against any future operating and licensing issues, as he is expecting it provide him with operational and business development support plus accounting backing. “For us being there close with them they want to make sure we have easy access to the services they offer,” he added.