Editing Frome (section)

== Economy ==
[[File:Market Place - geograph.org.uk - 253948.jpg|alt=Street scene with buildings|right|thumb|Market Place]]

The metal-working and printing industries which replaced wool as Frome's main industry have declined but not left the town. Singers still has a presence in the town, as does Butler and Tanner, although the latter (now named Butler Tanner and Dennis following a take-over) hit major financial difficulties in 2008, and made two-thirds of its workforce redundant.<ref>{{Cite news |date=26 April 2008 |title=Hundreds of print staff lose jobs |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7369195.stm |url-status=live |access-date=6 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501005654/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7369195.stm |archive-date=1 May 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2 October 2008 |title=Fund to help out ex-print workers |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7648015.stm |access-date=9 February 2010}}</ref>

Almost half of the economically active population of Frome commute to work outside the town (in Bath, [[Bristol]], [[Warminster]], [[Westbury, Wiltshire|Westbury]] or further afield). About 2,700 people commute into the town. A substantial part of the workforce has no formal qualifications and is poorly skilled, leaving them vulnerable to a decline in manufacturing work.<ref name="timetoplan">{{Cite web |year=2008 |title=Time to Plan Consultation Paper: Mendip Sustainable Community Strategy |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/CouncilService.asp?id=SX9452-A78254B7&cat=91 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108070329/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/CouncilService.asp?id=SX9452-A78254B7&cat=91 |archive-date=8 January 2009 |access-date=30 December 2008 |publisher=Mendip District Council}}</ref> There is no major local government employment in the town, and the principal public sector employers are the [[primary care trust]] and the schools.<ref name="vision">{{Cite web |year=2008 |title=Community Strategic Plan for Frome 2008–2028 |url=http://www.vision4frome.org.uk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209060113/http://www.vision4frome.org.uk/ |archive-date=9 February 2011 |access-date=30 December 2008 |publisher=Vision For Frome |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Frome town centre contains a considerable number of independent shops, and a few chain stores. Retail is primarily aimed at serving the local population's requirements for food (there are two large supermarkets on opposite edges of the town, and three smaller supermarkets in the town centre), basic clothing, health and beauty, [[DIY]] and some electrical goods. However studies show that only about a quarter of the town's population do their non-food shopping in the town.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2008 |title=Vision for Frome Baseline Study |url=http://www.vision4frome.org.uk/documents/V4F-baseline-2008.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313091659/http://www.vision4frome.org.uk/documents/V4F-baseline-2008.pdf |archive-date=13 March 2012 |access-date=7 February 2010 |publisher=2MD Regeneration |page=39}}</ref> [[Bank]]s and [[building society|building societies]] have branches in the town centre.<ref name="timetoplan" /><ref name="vision" />

Markets are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the town centre: some in the Market Yard car park, and others in the former agricultural warehouse, the [[Cheese and Grain]]. From March to December, on the first Sunday of each month, a street market known as 'The Independent' is held. Attended by an average of 10,000 people, the main street is closed to traffic; it is filled with stalls that extend up Stony Street and St Catherine's Hill and to the main car park. Antiques, artisan wares, food and drink, designer & vintage clothing, plants fill the 150+ stalls.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Frome Independent ~ More than a Market |url=http://thefromeindependent.org.uk/ |access-date=2019-02-13 |website=thefromeindependent.org.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214061322/http://thefromeindependent.org.uk/ |archive-date=14 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Saturday cattle market was moved from the centre of the town to nearby [[Beckington#Standerwick|Standerwick]] in the 1980s. In 2003, Frome was granted [[Fairtrade Town]] status.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frome |url=http://www.somersetfairtrade.org.uk/frome.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905153305/http://www.somersetfairtrade.org.uk/frome.htm |archive-date=5 September 2008 |access-date=29 September 2008 |publisher=Somerset Fair Trade Network |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

A ''Vision for Frome 2008–2028'' has been developed following a consultation with local people in the spring of 2008 which received over 3,000 responses.<ref name="vision" /> Mendip District Council and Mendip [[local strategic partnership|Strategic Partnership]] have consulted on a ''Community Strategy'' and ''Local Development Framework'' for the period to 2026 which includes building 2,500–2,600 new homes, providing more employment and office space, developing a new secondary school and two new primary schools, remodelling the town centre and encouraging a wider range of retailers and leisure providers into the town.<ref name="timetoplan" />

There have been a number of significant housing developments within Frome, many on former industrial sites, and these are continuing with plans for the redevelopment of a site at Saxonvale and Garsdale to include several hundred dwellings, shops and a 'cultural quarter' containing workshops for artists.<ref name="vision" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2008 |title=Public Consultation on the Regeneration of Saxonvale, part of Garsdale Development Area, Frome |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/MinutesAndReports/Meetings%2008/EMCP%2022.1.08/22.1.08/Item%2009%20%20leaflet.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611125427/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/MinutesAndReports/Meetings%2008/EMCP%2022.1.08/22.1.08/Item%2009%20%20leaflet.pdf |archive-date=11 June 2011 |access-date=21 August 2010 |publisher=Terramonde}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=4 August 2010 |title=Planning Board Agenda & Papers: Land at Saxonvale |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/CommitteeMeeting.asp?id=SX9452-A78327D0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611130239/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/CommitteeMeeting.asp?id=SX9452-A78327D0 |archive-date=11 June 2011 |access-date=21 August 2010 |publisher=Mendip District Council}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 August 2010 |title=Frome town centre development proposal approved |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-11035249 |url-status=live |access-date=21 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822135414/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-11035249 |archive-date=22 August 2010 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In August 2018 Mendip District Council purchased two areas of Saxonvale, neglected for over twenty years. Combining this with land belonging to Frome Town Council, a new regeneration plan has been drawn up, now under public consultation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Future of Saxondale |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/saxonvale |access-date=25 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126060851/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/saxonvale |archive-date=26 January 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>