Tara Tarapetian BA (Hons)
Tara is a Director and shareholder of the company. She is the creative lead for our work and a highly experienced project and event manager. Alongside Ben she oversees our projects, from regular large outdoor events; to corporate events; pop-up urbanism projects; meanwhile space initiatives; and creative projects for a range of clients in the public, private and third sectors.
Through Tara’s development of our Swansea Bay Street Markets social enterprises they have become brands that are loved by their customers and the communities in which they operate, attracting thousands of people each month with rave reviews and national recognition. Under Tara’s guidance Uplands Market – one of the largest regular street markets in Wales – has gone on to be recognised as one of the top 10 street markets in the UK by the Daily Telegraph, twice runner up in the Observer Food Monthly Awards, and the BBC Food and Farming awards Welsh nominee, alongside local awards. Uplands was also voted the 14th hippest place to live in the UK in a Travel Supermarket survey, with a thriving street market a major influence in that ranking. The success of our markets project led to our commissioning by University of Wales Trinity Saint David and it’s Ireland-based partners for the Interreg European funded Catalyst programme, supporting the food and drink sectors in south west Wales and southern Ireland, providing support for micro-food and drink enterprises looking to enter the market through the Catalyst programme.
Tara also led on our Unit Nineteen pop-up project and the subsequent creation of our PopUp Wales initiative. Tara also oversaw the creation of our HQ Urban Kitchen space as the first PopUp Wales initiative, and has provided design input for our work for Hacer on their pioneering biophillic building in Swansea. She also led on work for Caerphilly County Borough Council on a meanwhile initiative in Bargoed, and she project-managed our work for Bridgend Council for the UK Government funded EAP initiative, which was praised by external evaluators for its impact and value for money.
Tara has worked on our place regeneration strategies for Pobl housing, Swansea Council and the Milford Haven Port Authority, and she has also led on consultancy work for a range of clients, including: Swansea University; Natural Resources Wales; Quadrant Shopping Centre; BeWonder; Swansea Council; Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council; UWTSD; and Swansea Business Improvement District.
Tara has a First Class Degree with Honours and experience in the creative industries involving innovative design work and creative pattern drafting technical skills. She also has a passion for fashion design and has experience in the high end fashion industry; she has produced and exhibited her own collections, and collaborated with creative textile industries in Finland as part of a creative exchange project. She brought these skills to support the development of an eco-clothing range working with students from UWTSD and Swansea University. She also oversees students that work with us through our Academy.